# MHApps Take Control – Spiritual Social Personal – Importance Of Complete Life Of Overall Wellbeing

Spiritual
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- Spiritual, Social,Personal What has spirituality got to do with mental health? Where does it fit in the greater scheme of things, as human kind has developed through the centuries?
  We are often defined by our material and physical wealth. The first question in a social setting is frequently “What do you do?” This is a very limited way of thinking about ourselves. Looking at life in a spiritual way is about seeing a greater meaning or purpose in life above the daily routine.
  For people experiencing a mental health difficulty, every contact or relationship with the world is often carried out through the filter of the mental health difficulty. People can become very blinkered in their way of thinking and seeing the world.
  While insight is often seen as the holy grail of mental health, sometimes people mistake insight for a total engagement with their mental health issues. They become absorbed completely in an ongoing examination of the whys and wherefores. They become obsessed with achieving a “cure” or complete transformation. Leaving the real, true self as a lost person who needs to be overcome or at least wrestled into submission.

- Life, for everyone, is not made up of absolutes. It is made up of thousands of choices, some of which are as simple as “what will I have for lunch” and then having something you want.

- Spirituality is a word usually associated with religion or God or some power beyond our control. People all over the world are members of different religions and have different beliefs. Undoubtedly having and practicing religious beliefs can be and is spiritual, but we can also be spiritual without having and practicing religion.
- How do we define it for ourselves, does it mean anything in our life? The way in which we define spirituality for ourselves, can have a big impact on how we decide to live our lives, how we justify our decisions and our relationships. A knowledge or recognition of what role spirituality plays in our lives is not about accepting or rejecting our present circumstances. It simply reminds us that any action or occurrence in our life can be neutral, neither good nor bad. It is only when we interpret them in a narrow material way that they can appear good or bad for us.
  For example, if a person is cleaning their house because they feel compelled to, it can be an activity which is fraught with anger and resentment. If the person is cleaning the house because a visitor is arriving and they want the place to be nice for the visit, the activity can be fun. The activity remains the same but the emotional response changes. At a basic level, spirituality can be defined as anything that deals with matters of our spirit (or our soul), the unseen us, the very energy of life, the indescribable thing which makes us alive.
  We all have an aspect to us, which is unseen but very real. The Kilkenny Basement Discussion Group described it as: “our central being, our core, our wise voice, inner child, self identity, or I. It is everything yet we cannot touch it, see it, or smell it, although sometimes we experience it. In our everyday lives it is the feeling of goodness, joy, coping.” Regardless of your definition of spirituality, each and every one of us has an aspect of ourselves that is invisible to the world but still very real. Spirituality, is about being able to connect our inner self to the physical material world around us; helping us to experience and interpret the world in our own terms, not as we are told to; living life according to our inner self, allows us to see the ups and downs of life for what they are and not allow the molehill to become a mountain.
  We can experience this essence of life by walking in a field or park, feeling the wind, looking at a blade of grass, meditating, listening to music, driving. Anything can be spiritual as long as we take time out for ourselves and allow our inner wise selves time and space to see and feel these things. Having a good sense of your inner spiritual self will increase awareness that it is us who have ultimate control over our own lives. We do have choices. We may not exercise this control or we may find that we need support to do so, but it is ours to decide.
  Spirituality is about actively seeking opportunities to experience a feeling of wholeness and allowing us a different appreciation of life. It involves nurturing and cultivating the inner essence of our existence, paying more attention to ourselves, existing for ourselves first and foremost in an open, unselfish and non-judgemental way. It is possible to have more control over our physical world and more control over our mental health if we can learn to like and love ourselves because we are worthy of it.

- At a basic level, spirituality can be defined as anything that deals with matters of our spirit (or our soul) the unseen us, the very energy of life, the indescribable thing which makes us alive.

Spiritual
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