Dear Person (that is suffering),
My name is Darren and I am a therapist. This doesn't mean that I have all the answers or that I can heal everything. It does, however, mean that I understand you because I am a person, just like you. On a whim, these thoughts flowed from my mind for a reason I didn't even know at the time. Now they seem most fitting to share them with you, because after all, it is Mental Health Awareness Month.
Life can and will change in the blink of an eye. Then you are left to pick up the pieces to try and rebuild what once was, or create something new. Both can be equally daunting tasks, but the decision rests with you. It's not easy moving on, leaving what you've become accustomed to, developing a new normal; change is the forever constant, we either adapt or become stagnate. If we are stagnate, we poison ourselves and possibly ones surrounding us.
Change is difficult to bare and life is hard, but it is also very beautiful. We are given chances everyday to make our lives more meaningful and everlasting, though we let them slip away, often without noticing. Life is a precious and fragile thing, we are not promised anything but this present moment. I am only human, nothing more, nothing less. I wake up every day with the drive and determination to move forward and better myself. That is the only direction I know, that is the only direction I have.
I am a strong believer that when you better yourself, you also better the world. And when people see you triumph over hardships, it can give them faith that they too will triumph. So for anyone that needs to hear this, listen up. You CAN do this. Whatever it is, whatever keeps you up at night, whatever weighs on your heart, shoulders and mind, day in and day out. You can and will achieve your ultimate goal, whatever it is.
Doubt will slip in. You will question everything at times, but keep moving forward. Never stop, even when your legs grow weary, never stop. When the mud and the muck is at its deepest, tread on. When you feel like you can't go on, take a breath, then take that next step. Push. Push for yourself, for your loved ones, for your children, whoever it is that relies on you. Push.
We have to grow like kudzu, covering everything in our wake, climbing the tallest trees, claiming the largest mountains. Pain only makes us stronger, we don't realize how strong we are until it is our only choice. Pain does not last forever, it will be drowned by the love you share and the great things to come in your life. It does not matter the size of your steps, as long as you are faced in the right direction. “For we are the masters of our fate, and we are the captains of our souls” (William Ernest Henley).
A Fellow Human (who understands),
Darren Eversole, LPCA
Mindsight Behavioral Group