By: Justin Hope
People spend thousands on home renovations. They splash out on shiny new sinks, redo the showers, and turn a tired old bathroom into something that looks amazing. Good plumbing and renovations like this can last years… but only when it is maintained. When things get neglected, stuff eventually breaks down. As a plumbing blog writer, I want to show you how, like our plumbing, we need to look after our mental health. Most of us know how to maintain the things we own. We’ve paid good money for them and don’t want them falling apart. But too often, that idea of maintenance stops at our stuff. In reality, it extends to you. It extends to your mental health. Good things don’t just last on their own. They need to be sustained.
What Happens When We Don’t Maintain Things?
Ignore your plumbing for long enough and you’ll see the results. Rainwater tanks that once gave clean water can now become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and bacteria. The toilet can get blocked. And the drain can start making weird smells and sounds. When things are ignored, they become chaotic. It doesn’t happen all at once. It creeps up. Then suddenly, you’re left with a mess so bad the only solution is to call a professional. If we understand that we should protect our plumbing, how much more should we protect our
minds? There are many things that we know we should be doing. Exercise, taking breaks, listening to music, spending time in peace, and addressing excessive stress. However, all too easily, these habits can fall away. And then, too, can things start to get out of hand. We find ourselves more anxious, stressed, and burnt out. And when it gets too much, the smartest thing we can do is call in a professional, like a therapist, to help set things straight.
Life is a juggling act. But not all the balls are the same. Some are rubber and can bounce if dropped. Others are glass and if you drop them, they shatter. Your health belongs firmly in the “glass” category.
The Value of Preventive Maintenance
In plumbing, cleaning filters, doing inspections, and checking tanks is very important. It’s about addressing any problems right as they emerge, or before they even start. That way, it’s a lot easier for everyone, and many headaches can be saved. The goal of this is to prevent the homeowner from having to make an emergency plumbing call. The same principle applies to us. Preventing stress from piling up is always easier than fixing a breakdown. Ensure the ‘health pillars’ on which you stand are steady. Exercise, for example, is like flushing your system. It keeps things moving, clears out the tension, and gives you resilience to handle pressure before it clogs you up. Preventing something like excessive stress is always better than waiting for it to get out of hand.
Spotting Early Signs
Very few things collapse as soon as they are neglected. Usually, it takes some time to slowly fall apart. It is more like a gradual descent into chaos rather than one big fall. For pipes, if you throw grease down the sink, over time, it will accumulate in the pipes and restrict the water flow. With repeated use, you’ll notice the drain draining slower and weird sounds coming from it. These are the warning signs. If the homeowner ignores these, then the drain will become
completely blocked. Our lives are surprisingly similar to plumbing systems. Once we take our foot off the pedal, we can gradually descend into chaos.
And that’s kind of a good thing. Having it happen gradually means you can still progress and save yourself even if you have made a mistake. Just imagine if after every time you skipped the gym, you started from square-one. However, the problem with this is that we can get complacent with the way things are. Even if things aren’t good, we can say ‘she’ll be right’. We can ignore the warning signs, because we might not crack just yet. But this is never recommended. In mental health, you should look out for signs of irritability, constant tiredness, always feeling stressed or anxious, withdrawing from people, and a loss of motivation. These are like the little warning signs your body gives that it might need some help.
Building a Maintenance Plan
When you have to do maintenance checks for the plumbing, you can’t just do it when you feel like it. You have to set up a routine for every few months to do some inspections and cleans. This makes it much harder for problems to remain unaddressed or unseen. In terms of mental health, you also need to establish some sort of routine for yourself. You can decide to go to the gym 3 days per week. You can decide to take a break and read a book to relax every night. You can get in the habit of listening to relaxing music. For me, these are the habits that I’ve developed to maintain my mental health. And if your mental plumbing is about to burst, you can always call the professionals to help you
out.
Conclusion
A plumbing system looked after lasts for decades and gives everything peace of mind. But good things don’t last by accident. They last because you look after them. And for you, you are worth being looked after. So keep an eye on the little things. Focus on maintaining good habits for your health. A little bit of rest, and exercise can go a long way. Otherwise, like plumbing, you might just burst.
About the Author
Justin Hope runs the website Plumbers Rockhampton. Plumbers Rockhampton is dedicated to providing quality plumbing solutions to local problems in Queensland, Australia. They provide services for a variety of plumbing needs, ranging from renovations to commercial plumbing.
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