You Did Good

Screenshot Saturday

This was saved on August 14, 2021. Apparently I saved a lot of quotes like this in 2021. Ones about growth and change and not being like I used to be. But why?! In 2021, the second wave of hell had not yet arrived in my life. The first wave was when I was in college and my mental health was at its lowest point.

In 2021, I had not yet started grad school or experienced pregnancy loss or any of the other things that brought me to a breaking point.

However, I actually do understand why I saved this back then. Because while the most recent things that happened to me were life changing and got me to the point I am now, I can’t dismiss this girl:

This girl is 18 or 19 years old and I guarantee there are cuts on her arms underneath those long sleeves. Cuts she had put there herself. She had not yet had the ECT treatments that would completely change her life for the better. She was still suffering with medication that didn’t work well and unimaginable turmoil in her mind.

Like the screenshot says, I don’t resonate with her anymore. My mental health is better than it has ever been. But I love her for what she endured for me. I am who I am now because she persevered in seeking help for her mental illness. She was determined to not only get healthy, but to finish school. I became a teacher because she didn’t give up. She did indeed fight hard. And I’m so incredibly grateful to her.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. She is why I talk so much about mental health. I’m advocating for her and everyone else like her. She struggled, and it’s my hope that I’ll be able to help people not have to fight as hard as she did.

To her I want to say, thank you. You did good. I’ll take it from here.

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