With the state of the world being as it is, I feel mankind should be fully aware of its origin before being able to help and guide others correctly. To be aware of our origin is to ‘know thyself’, as Socrates once proclaimed. As mental health seems to be the topic of the day I find it imperative that anyone trying to correct the mind’s imbalance in others must therefore be balanced themselves. They must first ‘know themselves’.

To know oneself is quite the spiritual journey that has a very rewarding end point. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, man has been on a sliding scale, often plagued and corrupted by our own thoughts or those of others.

The New Age self-awareness conclusion to happiness and health is not the answer and needs to be corrected without delay. All therapists and the other mental health professionals should indeed ‘know themselves’ but self-awareness is not the answer to it – it’s more of a beginning. One must then drop all identification to the self, as the self cannot be uncovered with labels. We then proceed naturally to our own realisation.

Whether one believes in the spirit as being our energy source or not, we are without a doubt part of, and one with the universe we each reside in. Deepak Chopra quoted quite rightly: ‘The trees are our lungs, the rivers our circulation, the air our breath, and the earth our body.’ Not only do we have a physical connection to the ‘all’, then ‘all’ is the mind, and to be at one we should understand the eight universal laws:

• Law of attraction
• Law of cause and effect
• Law of compensation
• Law of correspondence
• Law of divine oneness
• Law of inspired action
• Law of perpetual transmutation of energy
• Law of vibration

At this time in our history it is critical we escape the individual minds’ thoughts, to become the much bigger picture. Annihilation will occur without this. We are the living ‘spirit of universal truth’, not what mankind has led us to believe. Our own ‘self-awareness‘ without the removal of identification will only lead us further down the rabbit hole.

Let’s take a look at resilience, for example, the self-aware entrapment will offer such coping tools for when life seems to be taking a turn for the worse, maybe through trauma or disappointment, when in actual fact if we did nothing there lies the answer. Resilience is only required when habitual perceptions and beliefs have become ridged.

Life itself should be unpredictable. The more unprecedented, the more at one we feel. We need to understand the ebb and flow. It is not natural to presume or expect that the entirety of life should be positive or, indeed, on the other hand, negative.

There is a time for everything. What do you think would happen if the seasons never changed? The universe knows summer must change to autumn and autumn to winter. Therefore we must also expect change. We need no coping skills, only the knowledge that it is our own rigid perceptions and beliefs that have us trapped and unhappy with life.

Less is always more, so don’t think that your life is good or bad. I should imagine whether you like it or not, that it is perfect for your own personal growth. So let go and let it flow.

Alexandrina Henderson is a mental health advocate.