The World Will Follow
Although I haven’t asked many people-- everyone that I have asked has confirmed that we all, and I mean ALL, go through a “what’s wrong with me?” period in our life (sometimes more than one...).
If you’re reading this... I guarantee at some point or another you googled the causes of depression, you took an online quiz to see if you had social anxiety or autism, you dug through Webmd for symptoms of PTSD, or used an online psychologist chat to find out just how truly “messed up” you are. You wanted desperately to know if you were diagnosable or just weird. You wanted to justify how you felt. Wanted to prove that something was wrong— so that there was something to fix. You wanted the world to accept that you were hurting by putting a label on your pain.
I understand.
If you’re seeking treatment: medication, support groups, therapy, or suggestions for better living, by all means keep on googling and testing and talking. But if you’re simply seeking validation... knock it off. You don’t need the world to give you permission to be sad, permission to be stressed, permission to behave or think differently than the “average, normal person”. It’s ok to have bumps and bruises, cracks, and crazies, bad days or even bad weeks. You don’t need to explain that shit to anyone. You need to accept it. For yourself. Accept that you personally, individually, uniquely are on a path through life that may or may not look like someone else’s. You may have more ups and downs, more struggles. Or more challenges to overcome. But that’s ok. You are ok.
You just focus on you. On getting stable and healthy and right with YOURSELF. And the world will follow. Love you. Love you first. And when you’re ready - when you’re strong enough - throw your arms out, puff up your chest, and say to the world:
“Here I am! This is me!”
And do not be ashamed. Ever. Of what you’ve had to do to become you.
