One minute you're simply moving your arms about in a circular motion, doing so effortlessly and gracefully: you are fine. The next minute a wave comes and hits you in the face so hard that you forget how to swim. You are drowning.

The problem is that you don't know if you even want to keep swimming anymore.

You are in an ocean of self-doubt, poor self-image, and a crippling depression coupled with it's cousin anxiety. Undoubtedly, the thoughts associated with all of those things have done nothing but disable you from functioning as a real human being. You feel like a zombie. You are not living, you are merely existing.

Your life is what you're fighting for.

You are begging anyone to throw something out to save you from drowning, but all everyone does is stare at you from the shore and look on to the rest of the world, commenting on it's beauty while disregarding your misery. Asking for help is not an option, but expecting it is somehow ingrained into your mind.

Please don't let me drown.

Life is slowly but surely causing you to have to tread longer, faster, and harder. At some point the energy is lost. After treading for so long, your arms get limp, your legs get sore, and you give up. You watch yourself slowly sink because you've given up. In a way you've won, but in a way you've lost.

Does this have to happen?

You are struggling to keep your head above water. But how does life come to this? As humans, we do everything we can to be everything we can. We work, go to school, get involved around campus, try and be social, while dealing with our mental health in the silence of our bedrooms. We are not okay.

You need help. You need someone to reach out, to help you. You never know the words to say to ask for help but you need it so badly because you're so tired from trying to swim as fast as you can. It's getting to you. You are about to give up. You are begging for someone to love you, someone to hold you, someone to save you.

I know this so well because I am you. I am swimming as fast as I can but I can only do so much before my arms give in and the rest of me follows. If this is you, replace every "you" with "I", and go tell someone.

Replace every "you" with "I" and you'll know what it's like. You'll know what it's like living life not knowing what a normal life is like.