Personal Story Post
The Light Bulb Moment That Changed Everything
I've been a youth worker for over 20 years, but there was one moment that completely shifted how I understood mental health.
Picture this: I'm sitting with young people, doing what I'd always done - focusing on emotional literacy. Helping them understand what they feel and why they feel like that.
Sounds simple, right?
Yet most of us never put those two pieces of information together.
I kept seeing young people act and react to situations the same way they'd always acted and reacted.
It was just... automatic repetition.
So, I'd ask: "How does this situation make you feel?
And do you want to keep feeling like that?"
If the answer was no, then came the magic question: "So what would you like to do differently?"
That's when everything clicked.
Suddenly, I was watching young people dramatically change their lives because they realised: "I'm in control of my life. This isn't just the cards I've been dealt."
Fast forward to 2009. I got involved with a company delivering mental health training in the workplace.
That's when I had my light bulb moment.
The connection between emotional literacy and mental health hit me like a lightning bolt.
I needed more information. I had to understand this deeper.
So I became a Mental Health First Aid instructor. Since then, I've watched the conversation evolve from "mental health equals mental illness" to today's understanding that we ALL have mental health - good days, bad days, life.
Yet for me, there is still something else worth exploring:
What does positive mental health culture actually look like in companies, families, and communities?
Can we build genuine mentally healthy environments, not just ones that respond to a crisis?
This is the question that now drives everything I do!
From that first light bulb moment to where I am today - it all comes back to the same thing: when people understand what they feel and why, they realise they have choices.
And choices change everything.
What's been your light bulb moment?
