There was a crunch and I honestly didn’t realise what it was for a moment, until somebody appeared at my car window waving their arms and shouting, “You’ve hit that car!”

And I had. In attempting to park in too small a space, I had hit the car next to me, scraping all along their side wing.

The damage looked serious. I parked, then left my details under their windscreen wipers, together with an apology, and the lady contacted me a couple of hours later. We talked about it and she accepted my apology, which she said she appreciated. I asked her to get an estimate of the damage and then we decided to settle it privately, rather than get the insurance companies involved. It just wasn’t worth the hassle, and the amount was less than if I had lost my no claims bonus and had my insurance premium go up. There is a reason why people invest in insurance companies – in the end they always win.

Some people are lucky enough to have an ISA – a stocks and shares ISA. No matter if the investments in it go up or down, the management fee is always taken. In the end, the ISA provider always wins.

I don’t know if any of you gamble – even a flutter on the Grand National – but the bookies always win. In any gambling, the House always wins.

It sometimes seems in life that everyone else wins, but we don’t – especially in the realm of mental health. If you’re reading this, then you have probably been dealt the hand that has just twos and threes in mental health resilience, while others have been dealt the court cards and the ace. But there are ways of playing our cards, especially if other cards are good. Perhaps you have high cards in creativity, for instance. In the good times you can play those. Perhaps you have more appreciation of nature than some people, you can play that card. There are cards of kindness and compassion, and cards of practicality, and cards of friendship. Very few people hold all the aces, and if they seem to, most often they’re bluffing.

Yes, there are going to be times when your mental health is challenged: you play all the cards in your hand and still you don’t win. Times can get very dark indeed. Mostly, though, things eventually get brighter and the game of life resumes. Next time around, it may be ages before the mental health cards come up.

Mental health is just one round. Sometimes it seems like that is all there is, but for most of us, there are good times too.

Monday and Tuesday’s blogs were all about how we can strengthen our mental health, how we can improve on those twos and threes in our hand. It’s possible, if we follow all that advice, to beat the House. It doesn’t always have to win.

Mary

A Moodscope member