Austin Hunter, Psychotherapist: Wherever I Go, There You'll Find Me
Take A Moment
Before you read this, take one moment to pause and breathe. Where are you right now? What is going on immediately around you? Are there any sounds, ones that you hadn’t even noticed until just now? Try looking out a window, if you have one nearby, and take note of how many things are just outside your field of view you may have never appreciated until right now. Think about the fact that you are here, right now, existing in this moment and nowhere else.
The truth is, we spend so much time focused on what we are doing, we can completely forget our being.
Ok, that’s a lot of mindfulness language to unpack, and trust me, it has been my 30-year journey just learning what mindfulness and mental health even means. You see, I spent the majority of my life, from childhood into adulthood, completely focused and dedicated to what I could do. Was I performing on the court, getting the best grades in my classes, impressing my bosses, growing my business? On paper, I was doing great. However, in reality I was completely miserable.
Maybe these aren’t the things that are important to you. Your focus might be: do the people around me like me? Am I good enough? Will things ever get better? If you’re feeling these questions, you are not alone.
What Does This Mean for You?
The central point of all these questions is a simple idea we all seem to hold: If things were different, then I could be happy. While I can’t tell you whether that is true or not, what I can tell you is that statement is propped up by another one, just underneath:
I can’t be happy as the person I am now.
Does that seem familiar to you? If so, you join me and the multitude of human beings on earth who have struggled with their being. It is startling and difficult to realize that we are human beings, not human doings. Coming to grips with who I am and who I want to be, far above just what I “need to do”, was what led me to become a therapist, and why I hope you’ll take the chance to sit down and talk with me to see how I can support you.
In my time as a therapist, I’ve come across a few therapy statements I think we all need to hear:
· It is ok to be you.
· You do not need to be someone else to be happy.
· You can be happy as the person you are.
Ok, So What Now?
The work we do together is where those statements move from words to life, that is the meaning of support through therapy. Together, we can work on the hard and often taboo word, Acceptance. Acceptance and being go hand in hand. Contrary to popular belief, accepting something does not mean giving up on something else. In fact, acceptance is lightly holding to what you want so as not to interfere with where you are. It’s how I have found the peace to be in the present, and why I can say: Wherever I go, there you’ll find me. This is my mindfulness mantra.
Where are you today? How do you feel about this place, right now, in your life? If, like it was for me, this is painful to think on, I hope you’ll come sit down and talk with me about it.
