I write this article as a personal reflection of how far I feel like I have come in my turbulent, yet amazing life story. Life hasn’t been that kind to me, but I don’t see that as an excuse to not live it as normally as possible. In fact, consider this as my advice for anyone out there navigating choppy waters.
The personal circumstances of looking after my mother and eventual passing took quite the toll, as my body felt it had nothing to do more and no purpose due to the highly scheduled regiment that comes with caring. To make things easier since, I now try and structure my day around any daily activities, mealtimes and down time. The most important part of maintaining this structure is by having a certain task on a particular day every week. If you have no structure, you crumble.
My idea of relationships with other people, trusting and loving them also took quite the blow during this time. It’s during times of tragedy and death where you find out who is a genuine person and who is fake. My heart wasn’t prepared for some of the losses, but I now accept it as people who are scared or intimidated of me. I don’t try to be scary, but even I will admit I’m quite the strong personality for some people to handle.
Socialising is also important during times of distress. I see it as important to have only a few close friends rather than a hundred distant ones. Having a few trusted advisors makes any advice more genuine and coming from the heart than someone you barely know too well telling you to do something stupid or inappropriate. There are also times where just your own company is beneficial for your healing soul.
Finding joy in the smallest things of life is so important. For me, travel and humour are two drugs I think every human should take. Who doesn’t love the thrill of finding some place new, exploring every nook and cranny? Humour is one of the most underrated values on the planet and someone who makes you laugh should be treasured forever, for that is a very rare ability to have.
I look at the old me, who had this strength the whole time. But he never quite knew how to use it properly. I’m more fearless and bolder in my actions than I was a couple of years ago and I suppose that comes with having to wriggle my way through some of the muddy situations I’ve found myself in.
I dream of becoming someone who can inspire and coach people towards becoming better versions of themselves. I believe we’re all capable of change when we put our minds to it. It does however come down to you to make those changes, not anybody else.
If I put every life philosophy and quote that helped me through my mental health battles and several sessions of therapy, we’d be here forever. What I do want you to take out of this article though is that there is always hope in the darkest of situations and to remember that there is always someone out there doing it worse than you. Remember the biggest superhero on this Earth is you: time to make that change that will make you a much admired and loved human being.
