The Health Chronicles: The Importance of Mental Fortification

This past week was a rough one for me mentally.

On the job search front, things have been progressing in a positive way. However, one potential employer that I know I had a great initial conversation with just went poof afterwards. I would have thought nothing of it, but the fact that they mentioned that I would be hearing from them pretty quickly following our conversation made the whole situation a bit odd. But since I do have other options currently brewing, this wasn’t the end of the world.

Then there is the usual mental health hellscape that is social media, which has really been on one since last weekend to be honest. The conversations around Caitlin Clark, especially when they involve Angel Reese, are somehow even worse and more horrific than they were last year. And what makes it so bad is not only is the loudest conversation coming from grifters who don’t even like sports, let alone women’s basketball. It is also that those are the opinions that sites like Twitter and Threads in particular try to push to trigger you into doom scrolling and drive their own site engagement.

And these are the people we’re supposed to trust when they say “AI is the future and will never be compromised” right? Yeah…sure buddy.

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To be honest I do not know how people are able to scroll social media feeds without them being heavily redacted. I know that if I did not have certain blocked accounts and muted words, the assault because algorithms are trained to feed you triggering and harmful content would be overwhelming. I couldn’t stand to be on social media. Even with all of my mental guards and ways I try to look after my own mental wellbeing while online, the filth continues to seep through. It’s exhausting. One can’t just passively intake information from social media anymore. If you do, you are probably unwillingly doing a lot of harm to your overall mental health and brain health.

But all of that was not what made this week the most difficult for me.

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I don’t talk too much about my personal life when it comes to my family or friends here because I want to respect their privacy. And that is something that I will not be compromising at this moment either. However, when people closest to you and care about you the most are also the people who carry out offensive operations on your mental health in tangible and trackable ways, it can be quite draining. These last few days in particular have been incredibly tough, and at other points in my life I might have been led down a more destructive path to “cope”.

To be fair, I did go pretty hard on some particular junk food one day because the conversation was so pointed and obvious it was either junk food, booze, or throwing something against a wall. I haven’t lost my temper in over 15 years, and drinking was definitely not an option. So, I opted for a very rigorous walk and some sugar. All things considered, I’d say that was a win.

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It did however highlight a lot for me in that moment and the overall theme of the week. While people will stress the physical parts of getting healthier when it comes to our wellbeing, we still do not stress enough how important it is to look after our mental wellbeing as well. All the good workouts and food in the world are almost rendered moot if you’re not getting enough sleep. It is not impossible to lose weight while in high stress/triggering situations. But, stress makes it a lot more difficult to lose that weight, let alone keep it off.

As a few people have told me, and it is absolutely true, you can’t hide away from stress and the world. You certainly can’t do so nowadays. While I would love to live on a patch of land growing my own veggies and herbs, trading them with neighbors for eggs and fresh cuts of meat, I am not quite there yet.

So, now more than ever, it is of the utmost importance that we do intake of what sort of information is being fed into our minds. It is just as important to also understand and take inventory of what relationships are causing more stress in our lives than bringing joy and warmth. We have to look after our own mental wellbeing, because those with the most power and influence sure as hell aren’t doing so. In fact, it would not be overdramatic to call them outright antagonists when it comes to fostering healthy relationships with the world in 2025.

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I’m going to go for a walk now. I don’t really feel like it, but I know it will make me feel better. My lemon and ginseng tea was excellent this morning. Writing this piece was the first step in making sure I do everything in my power to put myself in a good mental place heading into this week, and I look forward to continuing that trend with literal forward momentum.

Have a wonderful week, and hopefully I’ll come to you all with something more light hearted next week!

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