There are a lot of intricacies when it comes to coping with mental health issues and recovery. There is the fact that you don't ever really go back to who you were "before" your mental illness. The clock doesn't work in reverse. You become a new, different person as you continue on your journey of recovery. You'll become a person who is different than who you used to be but you'll be just as lovely. There is the fact that (in my personal opinion) there isn't really "recovered." Recovery and continuing to heal yourself and facilitate healthy coping behaviors and mentalities is a life-long journey that people should embrace.

One really important thing to remember while you're recovering, though, is that all of your progress is made because of you. We get help from other people and activities and that's great, but at the end of the day you are the one who is picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and making yourself stronger and better each day.

We do so much for ourselves and we need to give ourselves credit for it.

It's so easy to give the credit of victories in recovery away to other people. Some people say that their therapist saved them, or a friend or a family member. I know that quite often I find myself saying that my coaches and my gym saved me. But the reality of it is, they didn't. They helped a lot and they gave encouragement and a safe place to go. The friends and family members and therapists provide assistance and advice and a shoulder to cry on, and that's great. Those things shouldn't be overlooked. But when it comes right down to it, the person doing the legwork for improvement is the person in the mirror staring back at you.

You are the reason you are recovering.

Always be thankful for your outside resources, of course. But don't forget to be thankful for yourself as well. You're the one who decided to get out of bed in the morning and shower, and put on clean clothes and try your hardest to make this day better than the last one. You did all of that work, no one else. You're the one who is going to therapy and working to get better. You're the one who is actively incorporating healthy coping mechanisms and reaching out for help when you need it. That's all you, no one else can do that for you.

Humans are miraculous and resilient creatures. We're flawed, too, but we have a habit of always surviving and coming back-- of bringing ourselves back. Recovery isn't easy but you're doing it. Every day, even every bad day that you have, you're getting through it and getting better. You deserve the credit for that.

It's so so easy to say that someone else is the reason you made it to this point. But remember that at the end of the day you're the one who brought yourself here. Others might have given you a map or pointed you in the right direction, but you're the one making the journey, and that is something to be proud of.

You have been strong enough to get yourself to this point, so be grateful enough to congratulate yourself for it.