The motto of the Pride Women Conference is “Emotional Well-being is our Goal.” But what does emotional well-being really mean?
According to the Mental Health Foundation, emotional wellbeing is ‘a positive sense of well-being which enables an individual to be able to function in society and meet the demands of everyday life; people in good mental health have the ability to recover effectively from illness, change or misfortune.’ Thus, emotional well-being is the capacity of people to enjoy life, cope with stress, and focus on important personal priorities.
When one makes a conscious effort to achieve emotional balance, they experience healing, transformative change, self-confidence and growth in several aspects of their lives. They know what is truly important to them, are often not overcome with worry, stress or despair, and daily seek to live an authentic, happy and secure life.
Emotionally healthy people are able to adjust to and solve problems, and in doing so they help others as well as themselves to get satisfaction out of life. We all can acquire the much-needed skills to handle emotional problems.
Building emotional balance is a commitment to listening and becoming fully aware of what is truly going on within us. It involves observing your daily reactions to life, and learning how to deal with what life throws at you. It involves examining your actions and tracing its causes to reveal any underlying unhappiness. This demands that we are keenly aware of our thoughts and feelings.
Emotional well-being requires that we learn to be resilient. This ability allows us to be flexible and balanced when confronted with stressful circumstances and traumatic events. By mastering our emotions, we are able to experience strong emotions without these emotions driving us to unhealthy extremes. We also know when to step forward and take action, and when to step back to rest and re-energise ourselves. We also learn to spend time with loved ones for support and encouragement. Lastly, we learn when to rely on others, but at the same time aware of the inner strength within that can overcome anything.
The Pride Women Conference is scheduled to take place every year in the month of May, which is the globally accepted Mental Health Awareness Month at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos. Visit the event website.