{"id":19136,"date":"2026-09-10T10:22:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T15:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freshhope.us\/?p=19136"},"modified":"2026-09-10T10:22:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T15:22:47","slug":"mental-wellness-is-a-journey-not-a-destination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freshhope.us\/es\/mental-wellness-is-a-journey-not-a-destination\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental Wellness is a Journey not a Destination"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four years ago, I wrote and self-published a book titled, \"Climbing out of Darkness: A Personal Journey into Mental Wellness<\/em>.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 Today, if I could redo the name I believe I would.\u00a0 I got the first part right, \u201cClimbing out of Darkness\u201d but the rest of it? I\u2019m not so sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cinto Mental Wellness\u201d makes it seem that a person with a mental health challenge has somehow \u201carrived\u201d into great mental health, like it is a destination. There is \u201csome\u201d truth to this. In 2002, I was out of work for nearly a year, diagnosed with ADD and major depressive disorder,\u00a0 prescribed Wellbutrin and then \u2026 the cherry on the cake, employment with a Christian publishing and training company that lasted FOURTEEN YEARS. My previous \u201clongest\u201d job tenure was a scant FOUR years. Thanks to God, doctors, and effective medical treatment, I was no longer in darkness!<\/p>\n

Times were mostly good and I felt like I had \u201carrived.\u201d Four years later, I went through a brief depressive episode that took me by surprise while we were on vacation. I figured this was just a blip on the radar, but in 2017, FIFTEEN YEARS after my initial breakthrough, I felt like I had hit rock bottom again when I experienced what my book collaborator thought was likely \u201cprolonged grief disorder\u201d when we lost our beloved Maltese, Baxter. (I later learned that I was far from alone. Samantha Karraa wrote that, \u201cThe person I had not seen in 17 years had shown up.\u201d1<\/sup><\/p>\n

1 \u201c<\/sup><\/em>Karraa, Samantha<\/em>. Forty Days of Fresh Hope<\/a>: A Fresh Hope Wellness Devotional <\/em>(Fresh Hope Press, 2021), 83.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

My rough patch lasted many months, but it was also during this time that God led me to a Las reuniones de los grupos de apoyo de Fresh Hope<\/a>. One of the greatest blessings in my group is that we \u201cget each other.\u201d We understand the pitfalls of a diagnosis because we\u2019ve all experienced them firsthand.\u00a0 This\u00a0 \u201cinvisible\u201d factor we share is part of what makes Fresh Hope special, especially Tenet III, in which \u201cI choose the support of other people who will urge me to \u2018push through<\/em>.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not all we need to do to improve our mental health. Tenet V states that we must also \u201cchoose to explore new ways of thinking and acting in (my) relationships and daily living.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

I am striving to do that. For starters, I read and re-read verses like Jeremiah 29:11 and Proverbs 3: 5-6 numerous times each week. Another favorite reads, \u201cAbove all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do\u201d<\/em> (Proverbs 4:23).<\/p>\n

This verse ties in with neuroscience researcher Dr. Caroline Leaf\u2019s statement that the average person has more than 30,000<\/u> thoughts a day! It\u2019s no wonder that Pastor Brad says we need to watch our \u2018stinkin\u2019 thinkin\u2019 or toxic thoughts.<\/p>\n

Another new way in \u201cthinking and acting\u201d has involved putting Proverbs 4:23 into action much more than I have in the past. Sorry to admit but for too long I did not recognize the importance of our thought life and putting on the armor of God, as it says in Ephesians 6:13-18.<\/p>\n

\u201cGarbage in, garbage out\u201d as the saying goes. In a fast-paced day and age in which we are continually bombarded by media, social media, and the seemingly endless scrolling on our phones, this is much easier said than done. But it\u2019s not impossible! I don\u2019 t own a smart phone, but I still<\/u> spend more time scrolling on the internet than I should. It\u2019s the wasted time<\/u><\/em>, not the specific device you use, that poses problems!<\/p>\n

Romans 12:2 says, \u201cDon\u2019t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

Fortunately, I am finding there is more than \u201cjunk\u201d on various online platforms, YouTube among them. Examples include scripture-like statements such as \u201cLord, I cannot carry this if you do not go with me,\u201d and \u201cWithout you, I do not have what my life truly needs.\u201d That\u2019s for starters. I have watched videos about the amazingly consistent devotion of saints, and I\u2019ve learned valuable lessons like Why Getting Older is God\u2019s Greatest Blessing: Biblical Wisdom<\/em>. (I am 67 years old.)<\/p>\n

The point is, turn the tables on the online scrolling you likely do anyway, and use the search function to track down Biblically-based spiritual videos (or movies) instead of \u201cgarbage.\u201d I especially like to do this when I\u2019m relaxing in the evening, but one could do this anytime.<\/p>\n

All this isn\u2019t to say that I \u201chave it together.\u201d Hardly! Sometimes I \u201cbeat myself up,\u201d and ruminate when I choose \u201cgarbage\u201d over more spiritually beneficial pursuits. Or God may humble me when pride gets in the way and I hink I\u2019m doing these things \u201con my own\u201d rather than recognizing I\u2019m being spiritually led.<\/p>\n

The moral of the story is, there is no greater peace than the peace that comes when you choose to draw closer to God, and further away from the world. It\u2019s worth the time and effort.<\/p>\n

I have presented just a few ideas.\u00a0 You may have better ones. As blogger Tanner Olson states, \u201cI am inviting God to remove the things that are keeping me away from Him.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that title I mentioned? Maybe a better one might be something like \u201cClimbing out of Darkness: My Ongoing Journey of Faith, Hope, and Optimism<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mike Jacquart belongs to a Fresh Hope support group in Wisconsin. A retired <\/em>magazine editor, Mike enjoys sharing his story of \u201cpushing through\u201d on his book, blog posts, podcasts, and other presentations. For more information, contact him at michaeljacquart56@gmail.com.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four years ago, I wrote and self-published a book titled, \u201cClimbing out of Darkness: A Personal Journey into Mental Wellness.\u201d\u00a0 Today, if I could redo…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1603,"featured_media":19137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[42,1027,1026,429],"class_list":["post-19136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hope-and-encouragement","tag-hope","tag-journey","tag-mental-wellness","tag-peer-support"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFresh Hope for Mental Health - 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