Words are incredibly healing. Whether they come from a book, quotes on tumblr, or advice from a close friend or family member. Words help us to see what we could not see before; they open us up to a new perspective. With a new perspective, we get to see the world in a different view, and I think that is amazing in itself. The power of words is incredible - they allow us as humans to change and evolve, to create and destroy parts of ourselves. These are just a few quotes I wish I had read earlier in my recovery that would have brought some understanding and doused the pain I was feeling at the time.
1. “You have to accept that some people are not made for deep conversations, or for holding you together when you’re about to fall apart, or for keeping you rom unzipping your skin, or for talking you out of suicide, or to love you through the worst moments of your life. Some people are made for shallow exchanges, and ridiculous banter, and nothing more. And that’s okay. That doesn’t make them horrible people because they simply aren’t able to handle a storm like you. It doesn’t make you a bad person because you won’t divulge all the gritty details of your horror show. It makes you smart. You have to accept that there will be people that cannot give you what you need. It doesn’t mean they are not worth keeping in your life. You just have to figure out who these ones are before you’re disappointed. And you have to keep them at arm’s length. You cannot expect everyone in your life to understand, to be nonjudgmental, to get it. But that’s okay, because not everyone was made to impart wisdom, or wax-poetic, or speak on politics or the depravity of society, or discuss how crucial it is that the stigma of mental illness be abolished. There are times when you have to get away from all that heaviness. You have to. And you will need superficial conversation about Kim Kardashian’s arse, or a debate on the color of The Dress. You will need people for all your seasons. You need people or you wont survive this.”
2. “So, do it. Decide. Is this the life you want to live? Is this the person you want to love? Is this the best you can be? Can you be stronger? Kinder? More compassionate? Decide. Breathe in/ Breathe out and decide.
3. “I didn’t ask you to help me. I knew you couldn’t. No one can. All I wanted was a warm hug. I waned something stable within my unstable condition; some sort of security; a smile, a confirmation that I will be stronger tomorrow; something that stands when everything seems to collapse.”
4. “Recovery is a conscious choice. It’s not something brought about by repeat hospital visits and pills and forced therapy sessions. Those things only supplement it. But what recovery really is, is a conscious choice to wake up tomorrow and want to live. It’s a choice to drive across a bridge and not wan to jump into the water, but to admire the view.”
5. The fact that I told you what I’m is a really huge deal. Being suicidal is one of the most vulnerable positions a human being can be in. It’s also one of the most difficult things you can endure. It took a lot of courage to talk about what I’m going through. Honor that courage. And remember: I chose you. Of all the people I could call in this moment, I trusted you. That means something. Instead of ending my life, I reached out to you. You mattered enough to be the person that I picked up the phone for. You mattered enough to be the face that I looked for in my darkest hour. The fact that I’m including you now means that I care very deeply about you. Please don’t forget that.”
6. “You don’t tell people you’re not okay,” she said, “because it’s hard watching them not know what to do. Then you end up comforting them, even though the one who needed comforting was you.”
7. “Here is the tragedy: when you are the victim of depression, not only do you feel utterly helpless and abandoned by the world, you also know that very few people can understand, or even begin you believe, that life can be this painful.”
8. “It hurts everyday, the absence of someone who was once there.”
9. “I need someone. I need to hold somebody close. And I need more than this holding. I need someone to understand how I feel at a time like now. And the understanding must be part of the holding.”
10. “You’re not going to be happy all the time. No one ever is. Sometimes you’re just going to sort of exist, and that’s okay. Learn to be satisfied with ‘content’ and ‘calm’ and ‘not sad’. Not sad is goof. Not sad is great.”
