Fatherhood is not only about taking care of your children; it also has a profound impact on your mental health. In this post, I explore five ways being a dad can improve your mental well-being. From finding a sense of purpose to experiencing unconditional love, fatherhood provides a unique opportunity for personal growth and emotional fulfillment. Discover how being an officer dad can contribute to a positive mindset and overall mental resilience. Read below for valuable tips and insights on how to prioritize your mental health while embracing the joys and challenges of parenthood.
- Emotional Resilience
- Exploring Curiosity & Growth
- Sense Of Purpose
- Knowing Yourself & Partner Deeper
- Prioritizing Self-care
Emotional Resilience is one that will always be tested within life, much less fatherhood. This moment brings some big feelings in ourselves as well as those we care for within the family unit. I believe that once we experience these moments and process them within each milestone of our child’s life as well as our own achievements that it helps us in leaps and bounds. We learn and are able to teach how to experience the wide range of emotions and challenges fathers face. I believe this helps us in many ways to navigate and find our true authentic self. I know I thought I had a handle on fatherhood when we had our first son, boy oh boy, was I in for a treat when son #2 then #3 arrived. I think recognizing that those “big feelings” exist and pass like the wind will serve us well so we don’t let them dictate our decisions in the moment. It’s easy to allow those sleepless nights and stressors in our challenges in fatherhood to put a crack in our armor and we then do or say something we can’t take back. So remember when it’s tough, breathe, take a minute to center yourself and remember you’ve got this. If that doesn’t work go scream in a pillow or punch it if you have to.
Exploring Curiosity & Growth is one way I believe you truly know you’re on the right path. This helps you be empathically attuned to your kiddo and fostering openness between you two. This will help build strong bonds especially when they are young and will mirror your behaviors. Be mindful this is when you may battle defensiveness and need to remain focused on openness as well as curiosity which will go a long way towards building a fantastic father and child dynamic. I believe may times as well I have had to deepen the well sort of speak on this for our own home because we have 3 sons, who each require a different approach and path to personal growth. I think this topic alone is quite expandable within the realm of life as well because this also spills out into our professional careers and relationships. I think in our role as fathers the role of play is a huge part with our kiddos and how we teach many different life skills.
Sense Of Purpose is something I believe that can help us weather the long term storm of fatherhood. Having a sense of purpose helps to shape our day to day structures and behaviors, especially when looking to coach our little ones on the same topic later in life. Keeping our sense of purpose is a healthy compass to keep us on the path when stress of life and change hits us. Maintaining a sense of purpose for us will help us keep that mental focus on the horizon to remind us why we are doing this and why it matters so much as sacrifices need to be made for the betterment of our family. Vocalizing our sense of purpose to our little ones as they get older I feel also helps them understand the “why” themselves as they look to strive out their own sense of purpose within this wild world we find ourselves in today.
Knowing Yourself & Partner Deeper is helpful especially as you develop your own identity as a father that you honor your partner in there dynamic role too. In doing so we foster the respect and correct attitude of working on a unified front as parents. There will be “seasons” as I call it where hardship seems to rest on one parent in particular, our family needs to see the role done well, that’s our opportunity to shine. Flexing this “muscle” helps to demonstrate and strengthen our own self discipline, but also demonstrates to our little ones how to nurture a healthy relationship. I think this also goes hand in hand with being transparent with our partner and our little ones when we make a mistake or create a “teachable moment”. This helps them and reminds ourselves that the world didn’t come crashing down just because we made an oopsie. I think an added bonus to this is knowing when and how to forgive while knowing when to demonstrate to let go in those moments too.
Prioritizing Self-care is huge and why I saved the best for last. I seriously believe the saying “put the oxygen mask on yourself before you help others” type philosophy. You have to make time to prioritize your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health for the long haul. Even something as simple as a brisk walk, which I do after meals, can enhance your well being and help to clear your mind. These healthy habits will promote healthy coping mechanisms for us and our family that are watching us closely. By helping ourselves we help our little ones as we introduce these mindfulness habits to help better handle challenges that come our way later on. I feel this often leads to us realizing that we need outside support for the longevity of self-care. Whether that be a fitness club, martial arts school, online community or chess club we need these healthy “brotherhood” type environments to be great outlets to connect and grow ourselves and foster a culture that will serve ourselves with hope, given the opportunity help someone else someday.
Well, I hope this information was useful and with your help I hope to grow this into a platform where we can grow together. I wish you the grace and strength on this journey. After all, we are all in this together.
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