I think a lot of mental health bloggers/advocates get caught up with how boldly they can come across… who can raise the most awareness… who’s personal story is the loudest and has the most impact… who can get the most attention and save the most souls….
I’ve gotten caught up in that. In fact, when I first started You’re Not Finished I of course wanted to prevent suicide and raise awareness about it & mental health (and I still do btw), but if I’m being completely honest the motive was to show up the people I felt had led me to want to end my life. To have the “look at me now” attitude and expose (without really exposing) what kind of people to avoid and the people who hurt me for who I believed they really were.
However, slowly but surely there has been a shift in the content I would like to post. If I’m supposed to be “using stories of survival to save lives” as my motto states then I am to do just that, not vent sometimes toxic thoughts (which can plant the seed of toxicity in others) and put other people on blast*. This is supposed to be about hope in the midst of and after the struggle, not the struggle itself… about the whole truth, not the perceived truth… about ending the stigma, not contributing to it.
You’re Not Finished is not about the implication of the faint thought that MAYBE there is potentially something better for those who struggle with mental illness/mood disorders, it is supposed to display the truth that there is IN FACT more to what we can see in front of us because, created on purpose and with purpose, we are meant to live for more.
In the timeline between the beginning of our lives and their end we are able to make choices which shift our attitudes, thoughts, and actions… and the attitudes, thoughts, and actions of others. Sometimes we make the wrong choices both deliberately or accidentally, but no matter what happens those wrong choices can be corrected if we allow them to be. It is being open to truth and correction that allows for our freedom to live regardless of any limitations… the facilitates the freedom to finish well no matter where we are in our lives.
If you are looking for some help, start here: http://yourenotfinished.com/get-help/
It’s time to expose the truth about stigma, mental health, suicide, emotions, everything. It time to do so by being examples, and displaying how we are living proof of hope, triumph, and survival.
It’s NEVER too late, survivors.
If you feel compelled to do so, please share your story here: http://yourenotfinished.com/contact-ynf/
Anon submissions welcome. 🙂
*I’m not saying it’s not OK to vent, because that couldn’t be further from the truth. It is never good to hold anything that could mentally or physically hurt yourself in. But the way you let it out can really affect someone’s life positively or negatively. It’s important to note how powerful words really are.