Connection Brings Hope, Part Six: Why I Continue Self-Care
Why do I continue with self-care after all these years? I never was the one who believed the phrase so many people mentioned to me throughout getting help: “You can’t help anyone unless you help yourself first.” But as time went on, I started to believe this phrase, which became my motto for getting the help I needed and to staying healthy and practicing self-care daily now.
My mission now is simple: To help others. That is all I genuinely want to do in life. And to be able to do that I mainly need to be healthy physically but primarily mentally. Oh, and one other thing -- Alive. Throughout my journey and the lows of the severity of mental illness, self-care was non-existence for me. Now, it is everything.
In the days of low self-worth and motivation, I journal about how I am going to walk every day. I’m going to practice self-care and keep trying and not give up so that one day I can get the chance to help others. I wrote to myself, “If I fail, I’m going to get back up again. It doesn’t mean that we are failures, mistakes happen. I will get up each day with a purpose. I will walk for myself and people who are currently suffering from mental illness and suicidal ideations and for all those who have lost the debilitating battle of what is mental illness. I will keep going for them and for those that I will help in the future. And the people who have helped me.”
Practicing self-care is a must for me. Taking care of myself to help me stay safe and well to help others, to give back to my friends and family and others who have spent their time trying to help me. I don’t want to let anyone down anymore, I want to keep going, I want to be an inspiration for others to look back and say, “I can get help, there is hope and I don’t have to suffer forever, and that my life matters.”
From volunteering on the Crisis Text Line a couple of times a week, to wanting to finish school to become a therapist myself and open up my private practice one day to be able to help others as my therapist does for me.
Connection truly does bring hope. I wouldn’t be here without it. Thank you to all those people that have helped me throughout my journey. I hope I can make a big impact one day like those people have had on me to others struggling like I was. I just want to say this: You matter and it does get better, and you are never alone. There is hope, please reach out. I am so lucky that I did and am here to tell my story.