Confession! R U OK?
R U OK? Day (Thursday 9 September 2021) is the biggest, best and brightest day of the year. Spanos ElectriCool always get behind this day because MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS!
Everyone here at Spanos ElectriCool wants to know…. R U OK? Why? Because it’s an opportunity for family, friends and workmates to connect, start a conversation and make a promise to be there for each other more often.
Trust the signs. Ask R U OK? A conversation could change a life. You don’t need to be an expert to reach out, just a good friend and listener – and ask R U OK?
Spanos ElectriCool put a lot of energy into raising awareness for mental health wherever possible every year by participating in fundraisers, walks, making donations, hosting morning teas, sending our personalised cookies to clients. We suppose you could call us self-proclaimed mental health ambassadors. Many of us have personally struggled firsthand with mental health issues and we are not ashamed to admit it.
Our ultimate goal is to make the topic Mental Health along with Anxiety and Depression as normal as possible. We aim to support anyone and everyone who battles regularly or from time to time. We acknowledge we are all human and the mental health battle doesn’t make us weak, in fact we believe it creates nothing but personal strength and admiration from afar.
Use these four steps and have a conversation that could change a life:
1. Ask R U OK?
2. Listen
3. Encourage Action
4. Check in
Start the conversation TODAY on R U OK? Day – then continue to keep the conversation alive… You may be the change someone needs.
Often in our industry our Tradesmen are perceived as as the big strong people who work during the week and have fun during the weekend, who have a tough exterior, so mental health doesn’t effect them right? People incapable of feeling anxiety or depression, people incapable of struggling with mental health issues. WRONG! Your job, your hobbies and your interests don’t make you safe from the mental health battle, being physically strong doesn’t protect you either. No matter what your trade or what you do for a job any person man or woman is still capable of feeling, and whilst our trusty tradesmen are strong in their trade everyday, we need to support them and the stigma they are surrounded by that revolves around mental health.
Mental health is real, and it doesn’t discriminate! It’s important for everyone to understand that being a feeling being doesn’t make you weak, and having a big and strong exterior doesn’t mean you don’t feel down, anxious, sad, flat, nervous, awkward and all the other feeling associated with mental health. Experiencing and battling mental health doesn’t make you weak or inferior, and that is why the team at Spanos ElectriCool openly talk about mental health and its battles within the team are openly accepted, because we believe mental health should be discussed and not hidden and we agree that IT’S OK NOT TO BE OK.
Always remember having different thoughts or feelings to the people around you can make you feel like you don’t fit in or ‘belong’ but you do, you are important and mental health problems or not, we are all people, sometimes we’re okay, other times we’re not. You don’t have to advise or provide solutions, just listen and be a friend.
Any time you are concerned someone’s struggling always ask “ARE YOU OK?” Trust your gut and you may change a life.
Spanos ElectriCool will always be a proud supporter of R U OK day because YOU ARE IMPORTANT and so is the way you feel.