One time too many I have found myself in a situation where someone is talking to me about something that’s bothering them and when I tell them yes, I understand they retaliate saying no, you don’t and accuse me of having a too perfect life to even understand. They would then follow that with a follow up accusation saying the only thing I have to worry about is failing a test. Well this is going to show them that is so untrue.

In the last couple of years alone, I have experienced so many moments that taught me lessons that made me grow up fast. One of these moments was when my little sister went into the hospital for the first time after a teacher found a note that said some concerning stuff. This was the beginning of a long battle with depression, suicidal thoughts, and the side effects of them. Throughout my last two years in high school she was in and out of the hospital five times. The third time she was in the hospital, she told me she hated me and I told my parents I refused to visit her while she was in there. I did that because while she was in the hospital she was not my little sister that I loved she was just an empty shell of her. I almost lost her a couple of times and to this day I am terrified that I will get the dreaded phone call. Although this taught me how to do a number of things that also made my relationship with her better because she felt that I understood her. These included being able to calm her down when she is having a panic attack, get her to focus on something else besides her thoughts, and get her to look forward to the future with a planned outing.

When I came to college, I found out the hard way that you are not crazy if you do something that helps you. I found out that I had anxiety and when I found out I felt like whenever people looked at me that is all they saw, but that wasn’t the case. My anxiety made my freshman year harder because I mainly refused to admit that I had it and wouldn’t try hard enough to counter it. I would have freak outs that would tire me out and last for hours. Through the summer after my freshman year, I found an inner self-confidence that I didn’t know I had and it helped my anxiety and I came back to school ready to tackle whatever was thrown at me.

A couple weeks into my sophomore year, my best friend died in a motorcycle accident and it hit me like a ton of bricks. At 19, I had to bury my best friend of eight years and come back to school the same day. It taught me that the world doesn’t stop because your heart is broken. She has only been gone a month but it feels as if she died yesterday.

So when someone says ‘no you don’t understand’ I will say ‘yes, I most likely do because I’ve been through so much in the last month not to mention the last 3 years’. I am not writing this as a know everything article, I’m writing this as a way to tell someone that they aren’t alone and to give them hope that whatever it is they can get through it.