My Journey with Mental Health

Hi Friends!

“On my deathbed, I want to know that I poured out everything I had - and did it for God's glory!”

- Nadia Laws

Nadia Laws is a Jesus-follower, Wife, Momma, and Founder of The Spiritual Go-Getter. A former journalist and two-time award-winning communications consultant from the islands of Bermuda. She's also the founder of The Spiritual Go-Getter, a quarterly digital magazine for millennial Christian women looking to live a life of passion and purpose. Through her magazine, which launched in February 2020, she's interviewed everyone from missionaries to beauty pageant queens, Christian influencers, and health coaches.  While all the women featured are from different backgrounds and different parts of the world, their common denominator is their commitment to not playing it safe with this one beautiful life God has given them. Outside of her writing pursuits, Nadia is a wife and a mother to a busy two-year-old, Zaccheus. She's also an avid traveler, huge dessert addict, and a lover of all things self-care.  

Wanna connect?

Instagram: @thespiritualgogetter

Website: www.thespiritualgogetter.com 

I remember sitting across from the psychologist in the living room of my mother's home. It was my complete rock bottom moment. 'Have you had any suicidal thoughts? the therapist asked.

I didn't know how to answer. Yes, I had prayed that God would end my life and believed death would be the easiest way to stop the pain. But no, I had never taken any steps to actually hurt myself. The doctor prescribed some antidepressants for me. I didn't take them. In my case, I knew it wasn't a chemical imbalance I was dealing with. I had just let life get too far out of hand - had followed a path that I felt pleased everyone around me, but that left me feeling miserable, empty, and alone.

That day was the absolute worst of my life in 2011, but in some ways also the best. It was my wake-up call. It was the day I realized I couldn't live my life for anyone else, at the expense of my own God-given dreams, identity, and purpose. It was my 'enough is enough' moment where I had no choice but to fight for my own survival and build a real and genuine relationship with the Lord.

As part of my depression recovery process, a therapist encouraged me to go back to church. I remember doing so reluctantly. It was a random Sunday morning and while others warmly greeted each other and engaged passionately in worship, I hid in the back of the pews, hoping that God wouldn’t see me. Spoiler alert: He did. I had no intention of going to the front of the church during the altar call that day, but it felt as though the Holy Spirit was lovingly leading - or perhaps pushing - me to a place of utter submission and surrender. All the walls of unforgiveness, bitterness, and pride that I had spent years building up were destroyed in an instant. I’ve since spent the last ten years rebuilding my life from the ground up. Constantly learning, strengthening my relationship with Jesus, and finding new ways to cope with life challenges that come my way.

Mental health is still such a taboo topic in the church today, but I know from my own experience that Christians aren’t immune to things like depression or anxiety. While prayer and reading your bible are powerful tools, I also encourage anyone struggling with pain or trauma, or even unfulfillment and unforgiveness to seek professional help through therapy, counseling, or even life coaching. Let me leave you with this reassurance: if you’re feeling dissatisfied with one or more areas of your life and the path you're on, God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). 

Try not to complain or wallow for too long in sadness or self-pity - get clear on what it is you don't like and ask God for the next right step to take to start charting a different course. The reality is our lives now are a product of a million tiny choices we've made. The guy you chose to date, the friends you surround yourself with, the job you stayed at for too long because the thought of leaving terrified you. But the amazing thing is if you start today by making teeny adjustments - like waking up an hour early to work on that business plan or go to the gym - your life is going to look radically different in one, two, or three years.

It all starts with a choice.

The choice to get unstuck.

The choice to leave your comfort zone.

The choice to face your fears.

To stop living on autopilot.

This life is super short and I don't know about you - but I don't want to waste it dwelling on the past or what could have been. On my deathbed, I want to know that I poured out everything I had - and did it for God's glory!