“You are a star, you own your light, you have an abundance of it, like the abundance of potential you carry.”
Man-O- Power, a Volunteer Mentor Programme is a uniquely designed program to give insights on different verticals of the profession in light of delving deep into the subject of Mental health, given its perception of being highly stigmatized.
It becomes difficult for teenagers after school, college students or working professionals to make a career option. After a certain point in time of our life, we ask ourselves, What Next?
This question arises in everyone’s life span and it is a mandatory question to ask. We often find ourselves struggling to answer this question. We often find ourselves in a delusion. We start to explore the answers but couldn’t conclude. And that’s where a mentor steps in.
I, as a founder of two mental health organizations, found myself hovering in the same delusion time and again. Initiating a start-up on mental health, and being a girl, there were many hurdles I had to overcome. The so-called friends, relatives, and closed ones were the first in line to validate me wrong. I, on the other end, dedicatedly worked with the motivation, that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
This thought stayed with me forever, and during my whole journey, I met people who resonated with a few notes of the music of my life. Although, they were for a brief time, but taught a life lesson and inspired me to always pursue my journey.
They acted as a mentor to me and therefore, I, on a personal note feel that everyone needs a mentor to guide them through their tough phase. There should be a person to give directions and act as manure to make them grow, to make them explore the different dimensions of life just like the branches of a tree, and let them make their own decisions.
Thus, this Volunteer Mentor program brings together mentors from different verticals who have experience in their said work due they being in a constant phase of exploration of their true self to act as a guide to the volunteers, who will participate in the program. The idea is, Mental health is a state of the person to cope effectively with various competent and incompetent situations in life, thus the perception from different walks of life will help us correlate how different components of life and how they on a moment to moment basis influence the way we react, act and think in life! And so is true for vice-versa!
The on-hand benefits attached to the program happening the first time in Delhi , are:
- Achieve personal growth and they will learn more about themselves.
- Improve their self-esteem and confidence.
- Feel more productive and attain a better attitude towards work
- Enhance their relationship with their loved ones
- Gain a better understanding of other cultures and develop a greater appreciation for diversity
Thus, we encourage ‘ME’ in ‘YOU’ to be a part of this program and become the best version of you. Learn the life skills, the different factors that play a major role in defining life, take major decisions easily and help others, and yourself to lead a beautiful life. This will not only improve your mental health, one of the major focuses of the program. But, also will motivate you to take charge of the community’s mental health by promoting a mentally healthy lifestyle and persona.
When I look back now, I realize the journey was beautiful, and even now that I am creating one is exceptional. The bad phase was manure that let me grow like a tree, and the marks which looked bad then, are a part of me due to my acceptance. I am a veteran with war marks etched to my skin.
Through Man-O-Power : Volunteer – Mentor Programme,is a learning model curated on a NIMHANS inspired program (being an alumnus) to inspire so many like me, who at some point would have felt directionless through the lesson- oriented struggle to take that courageous step to overcome the phase of “what next?”. This out of the box step will open the window of opportunities in the fixed walls of stereotypes, struggles, conventional roadmaps and other restricting barriers to society.
Writing with the hope of awareness, change, and courage towards Mental Health
Signing off
Jigyasa Tandon
On behalf of Team PSY-FI X JIGSAW