Relevant observances for today
Time to talk day
Today is a day set aside as a reminder to begin the tough conversations we need to have surrounding our mental health. There’s never going to be a perfect time to ask for help, or to talk to our loved ones about them getting help, but if the conversation never gets started no healing will ever take place.
Whether it is our parents, our kids, our siblings, our extended family members, or our friends and acquaintances it even ourselves, we all know someone who is fighting an internal mental battle. If you feel like that is you, please don’t wait to get the help you need.
If you are concerned about a loved one and their mental health sadly, unless it’s your kids, you can’t get them into therapy just because you want them to go. Even then, you can’t force your kids to talk to the therapist if they don’t want to. But what you can do is find a way to start the conversation.
National optimist day
I have to say, I sometimes struggle to be optimistic when things get tense, but today reminds me of the importance of being optimistic and seeing the bright side of life.
I, however, have had to learn the balance between being optimistic and seeing the positives, and not being affected by toxic positivity.
While it’s good to remind ourselves to be grateful for what we do have instead if focusing on what we don’t have, it is also important to allow ourselves to feel all of our emotions and let them pass by instead of bottling them up and pretending we are ok when we are not. It is normal to be upset, scared, or even mad when we are dealing with intense situations. It’s just not okay to let those feelings trap us in a loop of negativity, or to take those feelings out in a way that harms others.
National Get-Up Day
While originally recognized in the figure skating world, National get up day, sets an important reminder for everyone to never give up and to get back up when we fall down it fail at something we decided to try.
This is a vital mindset to have as we go through life because all throughout our lifespans we will encounter obstacles and challenges we need to overcome. If we give up the first time we fall down we will never accomplish our goals or overcome these obstacles which help us grow as individuals this improving the world as a whole.
Important February month awarnesses
We won’t be mentioning all of these month observances outside of this post, but I felt like it was important to let you all know what they are for one reason or another.
I will be doing posts on these month observances
American Heart Month
Black History Month
Cancer Prevention Month
Financial Aid Awareness Month
International Month of Black Women in the Arts
Marijuana Awareness Month
National Senior Independence Month
National Wise Health Consumer Month
Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month
International Friendship Month
Youth Leadership Month
National Parent Leadership Month
These month observances are important because these issues all impact mental health to some degree, but are not relevant enough for me to make a whole post about them on this blog.
Humpback Whale Awareness Month
Humpback whales are endangered at this current time like so many other animal species lately. They face problems from fishing and whaling practices and global warming changing the aquatic eco system. They are important to our planet and without our planet
International Prenatal Infection PreventionMonth
Obviously it goes without saying that infections are never good to deal with, especially for pregnant people and their babies. When our physical health is down, especially at such a critical phase in life our mental health can take a hit as well.
Low Vision Awareness Month
Being someone who wears glasses (and contacts in the past) I know how it is to struggle with vision problems, but that’s nothing compared to low vision which does not have any way it can be corrected. Statistics put it at 4.2 million Americans over the age of 40 with low vision or other vision impairments(https://lighthouseguild.org/low-vision-awareness-month/).
I can’t imagine those struggles but I know it has the potential to affect a persons mental health especially if it starts to cause them to lose their independence. There are assistive devices now that make life easier to navigate, and some may be able to get a guide dog, but these options aren’t always available to everyone.
National Children’s Dental Health Month
I was never a child with great dental health and growing up through the years I was often scared of the dentists office. I’ve even gone through braces (though that was between the ages of like 18 and 21, not as a child).
Believe it or not dental health is linked to mental health in people of all ages. Our teeth allow us to ear all kinds of different foods, smile at new people we meet and friends and loved ones, and it can really lower our self-esteem and self-confidence if there is something wrong with our mouths.
From the time we are babies until we are in our teens we go through phases of gaining and losing teeth, some like me even need to get their wisdom teeth removed. It is important to instill healthy teeth habits in our children as well as a healthy level of trust with their regular dentist when they first start getting teeth, and even before there is stuff you can do to care for their gums when they are babies without teeth. That’s why I feel this day is important to mention.
Pet Dental Health Month
Spay/Neuter Awareness Month
Unchain a Dog Month
Cat Health Month
These four observances are important to me as both a pet owner and as a living being in this world. There are many debates about whether or not anyone should have pets, what kind of pets they have, and to what extent we would go to care for them and treat them as part of the family. To me their health is just as important as ours and when my pets are happy, I am happy.
As with children it is important to take care of our pets’ dental health. They may not feel the same social losses as we do, but if they are dealing with poor dental health it can lead them to problems with their eating, it can stress them out, and it could even cause them pain. Some pets who get a serious enough dental infection can even die as an overall result.
Spaying and neutering our pets is also very important, not directly for our pets, but there is already a surplus of unadopted pets in shelters all across the country and even more abandoned on the streets. Animals also don’t all have the ability to not mate when it is their mating season which if left unchecked can ramp up the pet population. In nature the ecosystem balances out with predators and prey, but in our homes, our pets have no predators to control the rapid population increase.
The last one hits me on a personal level because I have this one neighbor who’s dog has been left outside far too often in intense weather and it makes me angry, I take a vow this month to not just sit by feeling bad for the dog, In gonna find some usable proof and take the evidence to the proper channels.
Cats are of course a common type of pet. I have had quite a few in my life. As members of our family they deserve proper health care. I have always been more if a cat person than with any other type if pet. I know you may be asking why I have a dog now, but the answer is because my mom doesn’t care much for cats and I have moved into her place as of last year.
First week of February observances that are relevant to this blog
These will all get their own posts
Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week first week
Solo Diners Eat Out Week (feb. 1-7)
Woman’s Heart Week (feb. 1-7)
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