The Reply

I released a ‘real talk’ video over on the Don’t Stop Blog’s Instagram where I was open with everyone that followed the account and let them know I was going through a real rough patch, and I spoke about how I got myself out of that mind set and improved myself. After I released said video, I received a message from a friend at university.

For context, I wouldn’t call me and this person close at all and we hadn’t really had a lot of conversations, but we got on very well when we did talk. This person replied with an amazing paragraph about how they really struggle with mental health issues and have had a lot of trouble coming out and speaking about them. At first, I really didn’t know how to react. This person who had always come across and happy and sociable towards me and everyone else was struggling and had been for a while. I replied with the best advice I could offer and preached the same message as I try to preach to everyone everywhere, that you shouldn’t bottle up everything that you are feeling inside, out of fear of judgment. After that, this person went into a lot more detail about their situation which was nothing but amazing, this person found the courage to open up about something that they have been hiding for so long to another individual. And ill tell you what, they said something to me that I believe will stick with me for the rest of my life:

“Do you ever get the feeling of being scared to speak up, but then the feeling of being ashamed or insecure that you are scared?”

I have always said I will be completely one hundred percent honest with every single one of you reading this blog. When I read that message, I cried.

I cried because I was so ashamed of this world making it so that question even had to be asked. That someone fears speaking up about how they are actually fucking feeling, but ashamed of themselves for feeling scared. As people, how have we let this happen?

But I’ll tell you what. I’m going to answer that question for you just like I answered it for them.

You should never feel fucking ashamed of yourself for being scared to speak up. To go to another person in your life and saying ‘you know what? I’m actually not doing too good’, takes so much fucking courage I cannot even put it into words. There is no clock in this situation. You are not going to wake up one morning and think to yourself ‘Oh I can open up now’. That’s not how this works, or how it will ever work. You need to come to the conclusion that people are here to listen, people are here to help you in your own time. It could be days, it could be months, or it could be years, it does not matter. And you know why it doesn’t matter? Because I fucking know that you will find that courage.

To the person that sent that message to me, thank you.

You have shown to me and everyone else reading this post that no matter how hard life can hit you with these thoughts and feelings, you are able to get back up and find that courage to actually open up and tell someone that you are struggling. You should be so proud of yourself, and I want you to remember that you are fucking amazing, and I will always be here to help you through anything.

Thank you to everyone reading this and I hope you have an amazing day wherever you are.

And just remember,

Never give up.

Don’t Stop.