People feel so much shame about [mental health], so if, by talking about it, I can even have an impact on one person that would be awesome
Positive vibes only’ isn’t a thing. Humans have a wide range of emotions and that’s OK.
Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.
Self-care is how you take your power back.
Self-care is one of the active ways that I love myself. When you can and as you can, in ways that feel loving, make time and space for yourself.
Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.
Slow breathing is like an anchor in the midst of an emotional storm: the anchor won’t make the storm go away, but it will hold you steady until it passes.
So many people look at [my depression] as me being ungrateful, but that is not it — I can’t help it. There’s not much that I’m closed off about, and the universe gave me all that so I could help people feel like they don’t have to be something they’re not or feel like they have to fake happy. There’s nothing worse than being fake happy.
Sometimes even to live is an act of courage.
Sometimes self care is exercise and eating right. Sometimes it’s spending time with loved ones or taking a nap. And sometimes it’s watching an entire season of TV in one weekend while you lounge around in your pajamas. Whatever soothes your soul.
Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.
Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I’m not going to make it, but you laugh inside — remembering all the times you’ve felt that way.
Start listening to the way you talk to yourself. These interactions will tell you how well you know yourself, how much you respect yourself, and what boundaries you are lacking.
Take a deep breath to remember you are the child who lived through survival mode and the empowered adult who chose their healing.
Take a shower, wash off the day. Drink a glass of water. Make the room dark. Lie down and close your eyes. Notice the silence. Notice your heart. Still beating. Still fighting. You made it, after all. You made it, another day. And you can make it one more. You’re doing just fine
That was the crux. You. Only you could work on you. Nobody could force you, and if you weren’t ready, then you weren’t ready, and no amount of open-armed encouragement was going to change that.
The acknowledgement of having suffered evil is the greatest step forward in mental health.
The advice I’d give to somebody that’s silently struggling is: You don’t have to live that way. You don’t have to struggle in silence. You can be un-silent. You can live well with a mental health condition, as long as you open up to somebody about it, because it’s really important you share your experience with people so that you can get the help that you need.
The best thing you could do is master the chaos in you. You are not thrown into the fire, you are the fire.
The best way out is always through.
The bravest thing I ever did was continuing my life when I wanted to die.
The gentlest reminder: You might not need to read another self-help book, attend another training, or bookmark another Instagram post as much as you need to listen to, trust, and practice what you already know. What if the answer you’re looking for is actually within you already?
The humanity we all share is more important than the mental illnesses we may not .
The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.
The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.
The pain of severe depression is quite unimaginable to those who have not suffered it, and it kills in many instances because its anguish can no longer be borne. The prevention of many suicides will continue to be hindered until there is a general awareness of the nature of this pain.
The shadow is the greatest teacher for how to come to the light.
The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of the world but those who fight and win battles that others do not know anything about.
The true definition of mental illness is when the majority of your time is spent in the past or future, but rarely living in the realism of NOW.
There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.
There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.
There is no cast, no scar, no stitches. No X-ray with the evidence of pain. Rarely is there physical evidence of mental illness, but for those suffering from pervasive mental illness the pain and exhaustion is deep and heavy.
There is no normal life that is free of pain. It’s the very wrestling with our problems that can be the impetus for our growth.
There is no standard normal. Normal is subjective. There are seven billion versions of normal on this planet.
There is so much pain in the world, and most of these people keep theirs secret, rolling through agonizing lives in invisible wheelchairs, dressed in invisible bodycasts.
There isn’t anybody out there who doesn’t have a mental health issue, whether it’s depression, anxiety, or how to cope with relationships. Having OCD is not an embarrassment anymore – for me. Just know that there is help and your life could be better if you go out and seek the help.
Things not to say to someone with mental illness: Ignore it. Forget about it. Fight it. You are better than this. You are over thinking.
This feeling will pass. The fear is real but the danger is not.
