{"id":10800,"date":"2024-01-04T20:15:17","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T20:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=10800"},"modified":"2024-01-04T20:15:17","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T20:15:17","slug":"a-mental-health-moment-beginning-with-the-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/04\/a-mental-health-moment-beginning-with-the-end\/","title":{"rendered":"A Mental Health Moment:\u00a0Beginning with the End"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Bernadette Joy Graham, MA, LPCC, LLC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Bernadette Joy Graham, MA, LPCC, LLC
\n<\/strong>The Truth Contributor<\/strong><\/p>\n

I often think about those I have lost when I am reminded of something they said or did that is relevant of the moment.\u00a0 New Year\u2019s always reminds me of my late sister Melissa who passed away in March of 2023.\u00a0 She said \u201chowever you start your year will determine how your year will end.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>I never could quite put it all together as the majority of the end of my years lacked much memory of how my years started outside of starting a new school semester in January and ending a school semester in December. \u00a0Many years have passed since my school days but what I have noticed is without the starting and the finishing school semesters, I never felt no real control over those years as in what should I do this year? Where should I go?\u00a0 Some individuals make New Year\u2019s resolutions and goals but how many actually stay the course?<\/p>\n

Last month I wrote about the importance of doing an end of year mental health check-in.\u00a0 In addition to the check-in, I suggested readers do a year in review or reflection if you will.\u00a0 Regardless if they found it to be the best or worst year of their lives to think about what they learned about themselves, about others, and life in general and how taking those lessons into the new year could begin both an easier and healthier way of making changes.\u00a0 Changes that may have been needed for many previous years.<\/p>\n

Instead of New Year\u2019s resolutions that often fail by March, why not start the new year being like a chapter of your life book in which you get to write?\u00a0 Fast forward and think about the December 31, 2024 ending of your chapter.\u00a0 Include things like what it is you want to have accomplished?\u00a0 What do you want to have experienced?\u00a0 What would you like to have learned? In what ways do you want to grow?\u00a0 And with whom should you spend more time in case they are missed?<\/p>\n

As I shared, I was lost in my years not spent with education.\u00a0 I just expected the best of each year and unfortunately 2023 was truly my worst.\u00a0 Take a mental health moment and try a different approach this year.\u00a0 Begin with the end in mind as this will enable all of us to give our 2024 a title and a theme.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat shall I do this year?<\/p>\n

What shall I become?<\/p>\n

What shall I learn \u2013truly learn<\/p>\n

And know that I have learned<\/p>\n

By the time I look at these pages next year?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lorraine Hansberry<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bernadette Joy Graham, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and Certified Grief Recovery Specialist can be reached at 419 409 4929.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>www.bjgrahamcounseling.com<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Email:\u00a0 graham.bernadette@gmail.com<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you feel you may be in a mental health crisis, please call 988 or go to the nearest emergency room.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bernadette Joy Graham, MA, LPCC, LLC The Truth Contributor I often think about those I have lost when I am reminded of something they said or did that is relevant of the moment.\u00a0 New Year\u2019s always reminds me of my late sister Melissa who passed away in March of 2023.\u00a0 She said \u201chowever you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,5],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[210],"class_list":["post-10800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headline","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10800"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10801,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10800\/revisions\/10801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10800"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=10800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}