There is a bracelet that I wear everyday that reads, “You are enough.” Anytime I am feeling down or worry that I am going to fall back into the darkness, I just look down, read my bracelet and breathe.
You, reading this right now, are enough.
Never ever forget that.
Remember that you are not alone.
I know what it feels like to wake up and look forward to going back to bed again. I know what it’s like to feel like you are just going through the motions, but not really living. I have looked in the mirror and cried because I did not know the girl in the mirror. While most people may not have recognized that I was not okay by looking at me, I was able to visibly see the emptiness. I wondered where the old me was, the one that was optimistic and full of life. It was hard, but I finally told someone that I was not okay, and that is when things changed. It is okay to not be okay. It is important to talk about it.
For a while, I did not tell anyone how I was feeling because I believed that the minute I said it out loud, it would become real. I felt that if I said I was not feeling right that it meant I had something wrong with me and that I was not normal. I was afraid of what people would think of me and how they would treat me, but none of that was true and talking about it is what helped me heal and be the real me again.
If I can tell you anything from my experience, it is to not stay quiet. Write about it. Talk about it. You may feel lost, but I promise you will get back to feeling some direction again. My favorite song lyrics are from Tayler Buono’s “It’ll Only Get Better”:
“Lift up your head, it’s gonna be okay, you’ll see the beauty in the clouds someday, I know you’re wishing it would go away
But if you hold on just a little bit longer, you’ll get just a little bit stronger, it’ll only get better.”
It does get better in time. Hold on. Stay positive. Do not quit on yourself. You are worth it. You have people here to help you, people like me.
What’s something you’ve been waiting to tell somebody or that you’d like to share, but haven’t yet? Has this ever happened to you in the past? What was your experience after you shared?