Support is a word normally used in mental and physical health. We are told to “make sure we have support in place” or “to reach out for support” in difficult times, but have you thought about what support means to you?
Support means something different for each of us who deal with mental health, a physical condition or go through challenges in life. And one of the most important aspects of asking for support is defining what it means for you.
Support may be just asking family or friends; for other people and circumstances may seem like finding a group of people with similar situations; for others can be finding health professionals who aligned with their own values and personal beliefs. Support could also be physical and group activities, like yoga, meditation, exercise, among others. At the end of the days, support seems to be related to connecting with other people. As social beings, we need each other's connections and relationships to thrive and navigate life, which are a basic and core need.
It is not easy learning to accept support or even define what support is for you, however creating a network and a healthy net around you, can help you thrive in everyday life, feeling understood, accompanied, and heard.
In addition, support can be as simple as a physical connection, a hug, or simply the other person's full attention or presence. Defining support is important to also understand your own and personal needs, so we can request it when we need it.
Support is also self support. Learning about self-support can be very helpful to understand life and to learn strategies to go through your own life experience, building up a healthy relationship with yourself, creating a sense of self, to feel safe and confident about life.
Having a physical or mental condition or going through challenges or changes can lead to feeling alone or misunderstood. Having support from other people, the right professionals and learning also how to self-support can help you overcome these feelings and make you feel that somebody navigates the struggles alongside you.
Life is not about controlling what happens, same as we don't control the weather or when the storms are coming, however, those times are about learning strategies to support ourselves, to support each other or seek support, to go through it the best way we can.
Change is inevitable, however it requires changing our mindset.
It is social support that builds people up during times of stress and often gives them the strenght to carry on and even thrive.
Overall, there are many ways of support, however it is important to identify your needs and define the meaning of support for you, so we can better help ourselves when we need.
Support is about feeling connected and having that safe space for us to express our feelings, our thoughts and see life with different perspective.
Accept support, seek support, be the support to others, it has many positive benefits.
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