Prioritizing Joy for Our Mental Health

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It’s a time to reflect on how we care for ourselves and each other, not only in our personal lives but also in our workplaces.

Lately, the state of our mental health has been pushed to its limits. For too long, workplaces have been structured in ways that drain joy rather than implementing ways to prioritize it.

Creating a sense of work-life harmony feels overwhelming. Maintaining a sense of joy in our lives may appear to be nice to have, but not a requirement. Therefore, we simply go through the motions and accept whatever glimpses of joy that may come our way.

However, joy is a necessity for peace, retention, belonging, equity, and safety.

Joy is powerful and should never be negotiable. It can bring calm, peace, and purpose to workspaces where mental health is being challenged. When organizations intentionally prioritize joy, they acknowledge that the well-being of the people, not just the productivity they achieve, is of greater importance. It has the ability to bring love, healing, and infectious laughter into our personal spaces of responsibility.

Joy reminds us of our purpose and resets our mental state of being. When our minds are at peace, we can more fully appreciate and navigate the challenges of life.

Prioritizing joy for our mental health gives us the ability to not sweat the small stuff, and approach the heavier lifts by finding joy at every turn in the journey.

Here are three ways to prioritize joy for your mental health:

Surround yourself with positive influences. Spend time with people who believe in and practice uplifting spirit, joy, love, and laughter with balanced reciprocity.

Make time for activities. Connect or reconnect with hobbies or areas of interest that calm your mind, body, and spirit.

Celebrate ALL wins. Create ways to celebrate your efforts, regardless of the size of the win.

These activities can be implemented in your workspaces as well as your personal places of responsibility. You can create peer groups, weekly art classes, golf teams, create an employee acknowledgement wall, take yourself on a monthly getaway, plan a staycation, etc. Your mental health matters. The possibilities for prioritizing joy for your holistic peace are endless.

Prioritizing joy for your mental health is not a luxury. It is a non-negotiable act of self-love.

- Joyce Kyles (TooREL Institute for Social Change, Trainer & Facilitator/ CEO, Joyce Kyles Consulting)