10 Mantras I Believe In

Rachel Hawkins - 12 Apr 16

Like I’ve said before on my blog, when I’m not feeling OK I’ll write about it, it’s cathartic and if it helps others who may not be feeling the best then great.  Anxiety and depression is a long battle, it’s something that I know I’ll always have issues with.  Some days will be better than others.  Today isn’t a great day and yesterday wasn’t either.  But that’s OK.  I try and pull on all the techniques I’ve learnt through therapy, I try and remember all I’ve achieved this year and I keep talking to my friends and my family.  It’s good to talk.  I also think about things I believe in, mantras I guess.  This inspired me to make a list of the ones that have helped me in the past and will hopefully help me on my journey going forward.  Remember, if you’re not feeling great either, help is out there.

10. Trust Your Instincts

I think this is something that I’ve become more aware of as I get older.  If something doesn’t feel right initially, then it probably isn’t a good idea after all.  I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve pushed my instincts to one side, overruled them if you like and just gone ahead regardless.  It’s never turned out right.  I was right to feel cautious.  That’s life though I guess, mistakes are there to be made and to be learnt from.  Don’t berate yourself too much just be aware in the future.

9. Don’t Love Anything That Can’t Love You Back

If you’re not getting anything back then end it.  If it’s a relationship, a friendship or anything that just doesn’t feel worth it anymore.  Of course, we have to be there for one another, it’s human nature to be like that.  But be a bit selfish, if it’s causing you more heartache than you are prepared to put up with then don’t put up with it.  Walk away.

8.This Too Shall Pass

I love this one.  This teaches me that trials and tribulations are often temporary.  If you’re feeling sad or perhaps stressed about something in particular, do you think you will still be feeling that way about your issue in a months time?  Or perhaps a year?  Chances are you probably won’t be.  It will pass.

7. Treat People The Way You Want To Be Treated

I always try and be mindful of this, but hey, sometimes it’s not that easy.  Sometimes we forget how we’re coming across, we don’t realise we might not be as sensitive as we should be.  If I’m guilty of this I often think to myself, how would I react if I was on the receiving end of that rant?  Or that curt response even?  I’m quite a sensitive soul deep down so usually I would end up feeling a bit rubbish.  This helps me to be mindful of how I’m coming across.

6. Regret The Things You Haven’t Done Not The Things You Have

Hmmmm, I like this one, I really do.  However, it’s not always easy if you’re faced with something big, something you might have zero experience of in the past and you’re worried with how it’s going to turn out.  I like the thought of doing more and not worrying about whether I’m going to regret it.  Making sure my to do list has lots of ticks next to it.  Although I definitely regret that piece of cake I had this morning.  That wasn’t something that needed to be done!

5.  Be True To Yourself

When I was younger, I would often go along with things I didn’t want to do.  For an easy life perhaps, so I didn’t upset someone or I didn’t want to risk confrontation.  Even if I didn’t agree with what was being said or I didn’t particularly like the person I was speaking to.  I may have put up being treated in a certain way that I didn’t like but went along with it regardless.  I’ve realised over the last year that I’m not being true to myself with this.  I’m going along with things I don’t agree with, I don’t like and I’m not getting anything back for it too.  Once I started being true to myself I felt a lot better.

4. Nothing Is As Bad As It Seems

This one is easier said than done sometimes.  However, telling yourself when you’re going through a period of stress and worry that it won’t be as bad as you feel it is does help.  A lot of the time, when I’ve worried myself silly about something, the outcome is nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be.  It’s a welcome relief.

3. Action Conquers Fear

This is something that is used with CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy), ‘exposure techniques’.  The more you do something you’re worried about or scared of, the less the fear is real.  It won’t overwhelm you so much as you soon realise that like point 4, it wasn’t as bad as you had first feared.

2.Everything Happens For A Reason

This is subjective.  I’m someone who often believes in fate.  I like to think that something bad happened for a reason.  Be it, a lesson learnt for me,  or there was something good that was going to emerge, perhaps at a later date.  I totally get this isn’t something that everyone believes in, many believe we’re in charge of our own fate and destiny and I get that.  However, for me this is a little peace of mind during difficult times.

1.Just Keep Putting One Foot In Front Of The Other

My favourite.  I’m not saying I made this one up at all (for fear of plagiarism accusations) but it came into my head when I was going through a really tough time at the start of 2015.  It made me realise that no matter what is going on in my head, no matter what I’m worrying myself silly about, the world keeps turning.  Everyone still goes about their daily business.  On days when I felt like I wanted to take to my bed and hide myself away from everyone and everything, I would think to myself, just get up, put one foot in front of the other and things will fall into place.  The world still carries on regardless and I will too.

Rachel Hawkins

Almost 30 year old (eeeek) Mother to one from Bristol. Writing about whatever takes my fancy, mainly due to the fact 140 characters on Twitter and a Facebook status just isn't enough! Passionate about mental health awareness.

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