💌Dear Younger Me:

8/17/24

Dear Younger Me,
There are so many things that I could tell you, but here are the most important things that you need to know.
You will be going through so much that you won’t be able to handle it on your own. Just know you're not alone. I know it feels like you are alone, but there are so many resources out there that can help you. You have people who love and care about you. There are a ton of community resources too, like the Suicide Prevention Hotline, the Crisis Textline, NAMI, AFSP, and many more. Please use them and learn more about how you can help yourself.

You will go through so much heartbreak; just know that it will be okay. I know it feels like your hearts have been ripped out and your world is ending. I can’t say it gets easier after each heartbreak, because it doesn’t. Just know that you will get through it.

There will be times when you want to hurt yourself, and you will. Please reach out; there is help available, even if you can’t see it.

You will feel completely worthless, useless, and like you are never good enough, almost daily. Just know that it’s far from the truth.

There will be times when you feel like it will never get better. You will feel this consistently. But it’s hard to see the destination when you’re miles away from it. It’s hard to see things getting better when it’s such a hard time now, and that’s okay. Feel your feelings and take the time to work with them.
The biggest thing that I want to tell you is that you are good enough and that your words matter. When you tell someone “no,” it matters. There might be times when you aren’t shown that, and that doesn’t prove that you and your words are worthless. That shows you the other person’s personality. 

I know you just need someone to hold you, listen to you, and support you. If I could travel back in time, I’d be there for you. But just know that, in the future, you will have amazing friends and support from your family. You have amazing connections to your community and a job that you are happy with. You will have an amazing boyfriend who loves you more than anything in this world and supports you every second he can. I know this is hard to believe, but this is true.

Life isn’t easy for us, even when we grow up but we’ll get through it. We always do because we are so strong. 

Love always,
Your future Self

👋🏽Hello Friends!👋🏽

I would recommend writing a letter to your younger self; it can be healing and a great form of self-love. Within the last few months, I've been really into writing letters to someone I'm not as in contact with as I would like. I created this letter to myself as a part of learning to love myself and let go of my past.

If you try it, let me know how it goes for you.

Until next time, friends!💝

Jade

P.s. I might've recently seen a certain anti-hero movie and then decided to rewatch certain hero team movies.😂

Never thought I'd Be Grateful for That..🤔

8/12/24

👋🏽Hello Friends!👋🏽

While competing with a gratitude journal prompt, I was tasked with giving gratitude to something that changed my life. I thought about it for a few moments and decided that the best thing that changed my life was my mental health condition. At that moment, I decided that I was going to write about how grateful I am for my mental health condition.

I can exactly say that I never, in a million years, thought I would ever think that because of all the countless pains my own brain has caused me throughout the years.

This is my journal response:

"While my mental health conditions can be overwhelming, intense, and extremely hard to live with...

I am grateful to struggle on this journey (I never thought I'd ever say this), but my mental health conditions make me who I am today.

And I am proud of myself. I think my younger self would be proud of myself. Also, something I never thought I would say.

Due to my mental health, I learned

1. Who I am

2. How to be strong and resilient

3. My passion

4. My strengths and weaknesses as an individual

5. My skills 

And for that, I am grateful."

While I thought about what my mental health conditions have done for me, besides giving me emotional pain, it was hard. But I know my mental health conditions (MHCs) are the only reason I am the way I am today. I started to think more and attempt to be more thankful. I took a deep breath and tried to think about what I've learned over the years and how I've changed over the years due to my MHC.

I can say that I am truly thankful for my mental health conditions. Now, don't get me wrong, I would love for it to be treated, but that's a lifelong journey that I'm determined to continue.

Every mental breakdown I had, I survived. I gained strength and resilience.

Learning more about mental health, I discovered my passion and calling.

Going through symptoms and just having the MHC, I gained an interest in psychology, helped others, and started a life that would never be the same again. However, when your 16 or 17, you don't really see it like that.

While I am more than my mental health conditions, they are a huge part of who I am. It helped me be as strong and wise as I am now. It helped me learn how to help others emotionally and how to just be a light for other people. I can say that I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world.

Like I said twice in this post, never in a million years did I ever think that I would say that I'm grateful for my MHC. I think almost everyone with MHCs would say that it's a curse rather than a blessing. It's hard to live with MHCs; it affects everything about you, your life, and everyone around you.

While having MHCs, I have discovered that I gain skills like creativity, empathy, active listening, interpersonal communication, organization, etc. All of these skills are things that I value in myself.

It took many years to come to this realization, and it's hard to be grateful for something that gives you so much pain at the same time. However, when you work along with your MHC, maybe it'll be a little more manageable.

Now, after reading this, I hope you have the opportunity to take a step back and think about how your MHC or even your difficult experiences shape who you are and where you are going.

If you can't, that's more than okay. It's truly not easy, but one day, you'll get there.

After all, in the (x-men) world of Marvel, a lot of mutants think their powers are a curse, but having powers is a blessing. It's up to you how you perceive them and how you use them (of course, with lots of support and resources).

Just think about it.

Until next time, friends!💝

-Jade

P.s. I might've recently seen a certain anti-hero movie and then decided to rewatch certain hero team movies.😂