Taking Small Steps

Having an inwardly focused approach can make life feel harder for certain groups of people, and increase their feelings of isolation and loneliness. Finding ways to become more active in our communities, can help us feel more connected: to other people, to meaningful activities, and to something greater than us.

Taking part in the life of society will have different meanings to different people. We could break this down into two categories – actions which are either inwardly or outwardly focused. For example, a person who raises their family and goes to work every day, however praiseworthy, could be viewed as inwardly focused as only a few close people benefit. Whereas a person who takes an active role in the running of a community activity could be considered to be more outwardly focused, as long as their motives are sincere.

Before the pandemic, many people may have been interested in what was happening in their local communities, but this was likely to have been limited to just talking about problems. Very few people act or know how to make a difference in their communities. I know this personally when I attempted to encourage other parents to help at a weekly activity group for their children. Not one parent came forward.

The pandemic has changed many things for people and one of the consequences has been an increase in mental health difficulties, as reported in various news stories. Lockdowns and social isolation have no doubt had an impact on people’s mental health. In my work in the NHS, I am constantly hearing from schools and colleges that their children are not coping. They struggle to leave home, to be around other students in classrooms, attend work placements, to regulate their emotions resulting in some self-harming or taking out their frustration on others. These problems are not new, but they have increased. Children and young people are struggling with some of the most basic and essential human activities: interacting with and enjoying the company of others.

The expression of ‘seeing the light at the end of the tunnel’ is a common way of viewing the end of a problem, such as with the pandemic.The difficulty with this metaphor is that a tunnel may hint at the end of a problem, but there is no way of knowing how to get to the end.If we change this metaphor to a staircase, we can start to break a big problem down into smaller and more manageable steps.This type of approach is used in psychology to help people solve problems or to habituate to anxiety sensations.

At the time of writing, the pandemic is certainly not as big a threat as it was a couple of years ago for countries with access to effective vaccines and good healthcare.While many people have been gradually getting back to doing things that they did before the pandemic, now may also been time for reflection. We are all created as noble beings with immense potential. Bahá’u’lláh, the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, affirms this:

Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value.Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom. ~ Baha'i Writings

Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself.Rise then unto that for which thou wast created. ~ Baha'i Writings

The Baha’i Writings refer to what is commonly known as the twofold moral purpose, and it is the foundation of the Baha’i community education activities which are open to all. The twofold moral purpose means that we take charge of our own spiritual and material growth and contribute to the life of the society in which we live. Both are equally important as both the individual and environment in which they live influence each other.

Responding to mental health difficulties can often be limited to biological approaches (e.g. nutrition, medication, improved sleep, etc.) or psychological approaches (e.g. self-help reading, counselling, mindfulness, etc.), but there is also a third approach: the social approach.The social approach includes activities such as improving family relationships as well as moving beyond our homes out into our local communities to take part in the life of society. The NHS refers to this as ‘social prescribing’ and individuals can be allocated a link worker to help them connect with community activities.Known collectively as the bio-psycho-social model in mental health literature, we can improve our mental health through biological, psychological, and social activities combined.

In summary, having an inwardly focused approach can make life feel harder for certain groups of people, and increase their feelings of isolation and loneliness. Finding ways to become more active in our communities, can help us feel more connected: to other people, to meaningful activities, and to something greater than us. If this feels too overwhelming, we can break problems down into smaller and more manageable steps to achieve them little by little.

Small steps, if they are regular and rapid, add up to a great distance travelled. ~ Baha'i Writings