01/03/2025
Anyone who’s been through a Really, Really Rough Time with their mental health knows what it’s like to finally begin to breathe out with just a little more ease, lower your shoulders so they’re not *as* glued to your ears, and wake up to a day with a bit more brightness and a little less dread. You feel as if you’ve been doing some kind of twisted ultra marathon for the past X amount of time, and here you are, perhaps shaken, exhausted, but here, two feet on the ground.
And yet, as you take your first steps into a new day, you see the world going about, business as usual. All you want is some kind of recognition for experiencing a tremendous challenge and growing from it, the way others are praised for graduating law school or climbing a big mountain. You want to shout from the rooftops, “I DID THE THING I THOUGHT I COULD NEVER DO!” “I SURVIVED!” “I AM STILL TRYING EVEN THOUGH IT’S REALLY EFFING HARD!”
More times than not, however, our milestones go unnoticed, even by ourselves. We might shy away from acknowledging our efforts because they seem too small, or that we won’t be able to sustain them. We hide ourselves from the world so they don’t see how truly screwed up we are, and we don’t have to risk more invalidation. We stay silent, tiptoeing along as if nothing ever happened.
What might it look like if this year, we give ourselves even just a moment to recognize our growth? Even if it seems too small or insignificant compared to others, how can we celebrate our efforts as we journey along our own winding paths? Just as we recognize our struggles, how about we also recognize & celebrate the ways in which we continue move toward what’s important to us.
These awards came to me as I reflected on this past year, allowing myself to reflect on struggles, and on growth. Let me know below which award(s) you’ve ‘won’ recently, or create your own. I’d love to celebrate with you :)
