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I used to think that being depressed was only something I saw in the movies. Mental health had never been a topic to ponder until, well, I started to grow older and began to see life in its true colors. I started to experience different things and situations, and the notions I had about mental health began to change.

Now that I am much older, I would say that I have struggled with balancing my mental health many times. And, from the experiences I have had, I have figured out a few things—sort of—that I do to keep myself going and safe; that will be the pivotal discussion here.

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One time, I was dealing with rejection. You know the typical love story that ends in heartbreak? Yeah, that one. She didn’t seem like she wanted me anymore, and so I struggled with dealing with that fact for a long time. To make matters even worse for myself, it was a time when I had so much free time on my hands.

I was mostly idle—without a job, on school break, and mostly on my own—and so it weighed heavily on my mind. But then I discovered something. Well, it’s pretty much the same thing every guy in such a situation may discover at some point. I started to try going to the gym. Yeah, typical, I know.

Actually, I could not afford a gym membership at that time, so I stuck with home workouts. In some way, that helped me a lot with forgetting my pain from the heartbreaks. It required my mind to be locked in focus, and that took my attention away most of the time. And, often times, I would even be too tired afterwards to be heartbroken. I didn’t become buff, as most people would, but it did a great deal to make me feel mentally fine.

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Many years later, I landed in a situation where I had to stay with a family for a couple of months to work in their area as an intern for a company. The issue here was that the place wasn’t in a familiar environment and the network was shitty hell, so I was usually damn bored and alone after work hours when I was back. I didn’t think twice after learning about a nearby gym, and then I registered. And that was also when I discovered a new love and its wonders, bananas.

For some reason, bananas do a lot to help with mental health. I often ate a bunch of twelve or so every day, and my experience was that it helped me sleep better and think better. Coupled with working out, I felt great most of the time. So, yeah, I would say that bananas do a great deal to help my mental health.

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Speaking out one’s problems to people—the right ones, though—is often underrated when it comes to keeping one’s mind in a good state. I feel overwhelmed with my thoughts and problems sometimes, and I have learned that sharing with the right person and having someone listen to me go a long way in making me feel better. 

When school pressure with work gets too much, something makes me really angry, or things aren’t just working in the way I had envisaged, there are some of my very close and dear friends that I turn to and express my feelings to, and they listen. They may or may not give advice, but the fact that they’re there to listen does a lot for me. Their advice is then like icing on the cake.

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Many times, I give too many thoughts on things. And it drives me to places I don’t want to go. I sometimes wonder why people behave in certain manners, why some things happen the way they do, or why there is no money sometimes and the bills keep coming in, and it makes me weary at heart sometimes. I am learning to embrace life as it comes, to let life flow, and to keep being diligent in my ways and true to myself. That brings a lot more peace than not.

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So, basically, staying mentally healthy includes working out, eating bananas, talking with good friends, and embracing the hard times. Somehow, they do a lot to help me.

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<center><sub>Original photos</sub></center>
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