"A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances instead of your circumstances having power over you."-Joyce Meyer

Depression and anxiety come in many forms. So many in fact, that it has become hard to recognize. Some people believe that today's society seems to sort of romanticize the idea of having a mental illness and while this is true in some occurrences, a cry for help is still a cry for help. "they're just doing it for attention" maybe that attention and love is what will help them get past this moment of feeling alone, like there is no where else to turn. People need to feel loved and as i stated earlier, depression and anxiety come in so many forms, it's different for everyone.

Not every person struggling with depression is laying in bed unable to move, while I can personally relate to not having the ability to get out of bed some mornings, most days its so much more than that. It's being tired and emotionless, or perhaps the polar opposite and being on the verge of tears, ready to explode at any moment. It's keeping yourself busy at all times of the day and night, because the idea of being alone with your thoughts is terrifying. It's laying in bed unable to find rest because you're petrified of what life will throw at you in the morning to come "what next?". Just because they aren't on antidepressants, and they don't have a therapist doesn't mean that they're not struggling.

When life hits hard people tend to do one of two things: Bury themselves in work and commitments to distract from their pain, or lay in bed and wait for the good lord to take them home. Unfortunately neither of these are healthy and eventually we end up imploding on ourselves. What I've found to be helpful is talking to someone about this pain, and letting it be exactly what it is. It's such a relief to finally admit that you're not okay, and to stop pretending that the world is perfect, but you can't let the imperfectness of this world control you. Yes it's a broken world, but its a beautiful world. There is beauty here, a year ago I would've looked you in the face and told you there is nothing good on this earth. I let the sorrow consume me, it made me angry, it made me hateful, it made me lose sight of why I was put here in the first place.

I'm here to tell you that it gets better. you've heard this a million times, right? well here's a million and one. It gets better, some days the worry and sadness try to consume you, and some days you might lose that battle and let it ruin your day. But thats why we wake up to a new day every morning. Making connections and forming a support system will save your life. I mean this literally, while you may not be suicidal, staying at home crying all day or completely shutting yourself out while out in public is no way to live and good friends will bring you out of that funk. While this chapter in your life, or maybe even this next few chapters are more than challenging they're still a part of your story, and this is one hell of a story. Don't ever give up, there is light, if you can't find it, make it. You've got this.