A Mary Worth PSA

I have a guilty pleasure - I read the Mary Worth comic strip every day.  It's my little 10 second soap opera and I just love the old-fashioned advice that the creators channel through their characters, especially Mary, who can solve any problem with a cup of coffee and her vegetable terrine.

But as someone who has taken the lead on my life, so to speak, and has sought professional help for problems, today's strip struck a chord.  I happened to have had a very happy childhood, but adulthood has had its moments where things were not so good.  So I seek help, be it with a mental health professional or a spiritual counselor.

Now, there is a difference between the two - sometimes, the problem is bigger than what a "friendly-chat-with-Father" can handle.  It does not mean his counsel or prayers, and God's Grace, does not work.  It means additional help is required and let us thank God for people who choose to enter the field of mental health.  He puts them there for a reason, brother.

So . . .

. . . if you are carrying around more baggage than steerage on the Titanic . . .

. . . if you are confused as to who you are . . .

. . . if you are overcome with fear about people finding out about your faults and hating you for it . . .

. . . if you cannot give of yourself because you don't think it's anything of worth . . .

. . . get help. 

And be careful - not all mental health professionals are good.  Find one that will help you to change.  No, not who you are but how you handle being who you are.  Warts and all.

And I will say one thing as a personal shout-out and then say no more:  stop calling the woman you almost married a "psychotic bitch from hell" just because she discovered a side of you that you wanted to keep hidden.  It is unfair for you to be attacking her by name - and her mother - some twenty years after the fact.  It is not only malicious, misogynistic, and disingenuous . .  it is sinful. 

Updated:  a reader recommends CatholicTherapists.com as a resource to finding help.  Thanks, Agnes!  If anyone else has a lead, please let me know.