Dear younger me, this is what our depression has taught me.
You are brilliant beyond the stars, and if you want to keep shining, you need to hear these words.
You do not know how much your depression is going to impact you one year from now, or five years from now.
This is what you need to know.
- It is going to impact you in large ways. It is going to cause you to lose yourself for a while. It is going to cause you broken relationships. It is going to tear you down, and you will find your way to rock bottom if you don’t take care of it right now.
- Your depression will set you up to fail. That’s its nature.
- Your depression will attack your mind, making you feel pathetic and inexperienced. It will attack your body, making your self-image horrid and unappealing. And, it will attack your relationships, making you feel desperate for love while being surrounded by people who love you.
- Your depression will manipulate you into believing that you are alone. You will believe it, and your relationships will be suffocated by the lie.
- Your depression is going to cause suffering. It is going to remind you that you are unworthy, incapable of being loved, and undeserving of greatness.
- Your depression will begin working against you to defeat you. And, unfortunately, you will let it win for a while.
- Your depression is going to disguise itself and you’ll recognize it, but ignore it. You’ll deny the help that you need, because you want to believe you’ve overcome the darkness.
The truth is, you can overcome the lies of depression. You are greater than our depression.
You are worthy of love. Love yourself first, and from there, receive love from the world!
You are worthy of relationships. Call the people you have hurt or pushed away. Apologize. And rebuild the bridges that depression tore down. They don’t have to stay down forever.
You have an incredibly designed body that makes you a limited-edition product. In fact, there was only one made, and it was made perfectly.
Stop weighing yourself. Stop critiquing yourself. Stop destroying your safe place. Stop hating what you were created to live inside of, and instead, start taking care of it."
This is the body you are meant to be in for your entire life. It was made just for you. Thrive inside of it.
When depression seeps in with feelings of unworthiness, the inability to be loved, and shame, fire back with these:
I am worth so much more than the world is even prepared for.
I love myself, and that is all that matters. But, other people love me too, and that is incredible.
I am everything I should be, and I am going to own my life.
I will not be defeated by Depression anymore. I will overcome it, because I deserve to.
You have a journey ahead of you, girlfriend; but, you deserve to live it for yourself, and that’s it. Do not mutate for depression, for your boyfriend, for your mother, for society, or for any other insignificant reason.
When you feel your depression set in, don’t hesitate to speak against it. Walk to the help door right away. You don’t deserve to live a life in darkness, you deserve to shine, but diamonds only shine after they’ve been placed under extreme, uncomfortable, pressure.
Remember, you are radiant. You are resilient. You are capable.
I pray that you take this advice to heart. It will change your life.
