In our society today, at the mention of the term 'mental health' one's mind easily travels to an image that societal standards have etched in their mind since infanthood. The picture of a person in a padded room, worn out clothes and crazy hair reeking of marijuana and body odor. 

However mental health goes deeper than what society has raised us to think or what perceptions we have built up about what it means, how it affects us and those that we love. 

Mental health generally encompasses emotional,psychological and social well being, influencing cognition, perception and behavior. 

Mental health is what we think and how we feel each day. How those feelings, no matter how trivial they are considered, affect us. The build up of positive energy that we get each day, keeps us in a good state of mind and in amazing condition mentally. However, even the slightest negative incidences in our day to day lives can build up and bring about a chronic state of our mental health which in turn affects our body functioning. 

The term self awareness is one that we hear almost everyday. From our counselors and therapists right down to friends and family! In life one cannot decipher life and live it to their fullest potential without a clear understanding of who they are.

Self awareness is the experience of one's own personality or individuality. It can simply be understood as the ability to interpret one's actions,feelings and thoughts and align them to one's own values. 

On reading this, one may easily confuse it for conciousness. Conciousness is being aware of one's environment,body and lifestyle. On the other hand, self awareness is how an individual experiencesand understands their own character, feelings motives an desires

Self awareness is not a straight path but rather one with twists and turns with four streets leading to one desired destination.

1.  What others say or think about you

People's perceptions about you do matter, however, not in the way that you think they do. The truth is, what people say or think about us is their reaction to the impact we have on them. It is not a walk in the park changing people's reaction, only the impact we have on them. In the words of Margaret Thatcher, 'I usually make up my mind about a man in ten seconds, and I very rarely change it.' Their reaction to our  behaviour is a sign of how we impact them and the world as a whole. Keep in mind though that not everyone's reaction matters

2.   Awareness of your own thoughts and feelings 

  This involves understanding the root causes of the thoughts and emotions we have towards ourselves. If we are not careful, thoughts and feelings can trample down one's soul. Sit down and look over the course of your life, what memories come to mind? Our brain easily puts emphasis on the negative thoughts, words, perceptions or experiences compared to the positive expriences such as compliments. Therefore, one defines themselves by these negative experiences instead of those 'live,love,laugh' moments that truly define the person that you have become. In the words of Will Arnett, 'I am happy because I am grateful.I choose to be grateful.That gratitude allows me to be happy.

3.   Awareness of who you really are 

           This involves viewing who we actually are as reflected               by our actions, motivations and emotions. We normally             judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their                  behaviour. We do this with our identity, believing we are              one person but acting like another. 

4.   Awareness of who you want to be

  Do you know who it is that you desire to be? Have you written your own testimonial? It is important to reflect on who we were, who we are and who we want to become. These areas of life continue to evolve and transform with age. Who we hope to be is essential, otherwise we would be living life in vain. In order to make a good decision, one must let go of what others think about you, let go of the norms, behaviours and habits that we have today. We must take our mind's eye off the past, present and peer deeper into the future. In the words of C.S Lewis, ' You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.'