One thing that I didn’t quite understand before I came to Berkeley, is that mental healthy issues are far more expansive than just the small group of people who I knew who dealt with them in high school. My group of friends who had frequent anxiety, and other issues was not the only group of people who has struggled with the kinds of pain these life dynamics can cause. This issues are more widely spread than just some small group of people in a small mountain town. This issues quite likely spread throughout more of the town than I was aware of.
Mental health issues span over the whole globe, and they affect far more people than we realize they do. It is safe to say that nearly everyone has had a moment in their life where they were not physically tired, but, instead they were mentally tired and they were not feeling like themselves. We all have our moments where we are struggling to feel like ourselves in a world which is always telling us who and what we should be. Especially when it seems as though following the patterns of what is expected is exactly what everyone else seems to be doing as well.
In the past week, I’ve had my own battle with mental health, while also hearing or those back home losing their battle against their own mental health. It is in times such as these where it is important to focus on the future, and all that we have to look forward to in our lives. Do not stop here, do not quit, you will get to where you were meant to go as long as you keep trying. If something does not feel right, then you can change your path, but whatever you do DO NOT GIVE UP.
We are all growing, and heading on our own paths, and they do not need to match anyone else’s. That is a scary, wild adventure, and sometimes it seems as though it is not for everyone. Sometimes we feel as though we want to give up, as though life is too painful, or as though no one is there looking out for us. Life is a one man journey, a battle we’re forced into all on our own, a perspective that only we can see and experience in our heads, one that is extremely difficult to force onto anyone else. How can we explain when we don’t understand ourselves?
Yet, despite the miscommunications, and the thousands of time you have tried to rephrase what you are feeling, think of the ways that those who care have taken the time to listen. Think of the luxuries that we have; a roof over our heads, food to eat at night, and water to drink. We are so much better off that so many people, even if it feels as though so many others have more than we have.
We need to bring back being grateful, we need to bring back positivity, we need to lose expectations, and we need to appreciate what we have. The second you lose that is the second you lose yourself, and that is the most important thing that you are holding on to. You are precious, you are important, you are worth it, and I can promise you you are so loved. Please take care of yourself today, you will look back years down the road and be thankful that you were easy on your soul.