The Voice Inside My Head

If I was to ask you who your best friend is, you’d most likely say someone you’ve been friends with since school, a person that’s always able to make you laugh when you’re down or someone you know you can lean on and they’ll always be there to listen. None of which would be wrong but, just have a think about this, shouldn’t the answer really be yourself?

That key to happiness...

Accepting where you are in life and being able to treat yourself with the same respect and care as you would to others. Fighting those unwanted thoughts and not letting yourself believe everything that you think is true. As well as not isolating yourself away from others to make yourself feel ashamed or guilty when you’re having a bad day but, instead just remembering that you're human! 

If you are struggling with your own mental health, I'm beside you and understand how hard the smallest of things can be. By no means am I writing this as I’ve got everything sorted out, I’m just trying my best to find hope in the situation and begin a new journey to start to love myself again. 

In believing I was a failure, I hid behind a mask and continued to plaster on a smile. I didn’t know what it was like to not feel alone and often didn’t know what it was like to be happy either. But am now being true to myself and realise how important self care is within daily life.

So, I wanted to share a few ideas you could try, that help me to distract myself from my thoughts. Some you may like the sound of and others you won’t… which is ok. You can choose as many or as few as you like and do them at a time and pace that suits you. Most importantly you need to find out what works best for you, so explore different things and potentially do some research as well.

Spend time outside - listen to the birds, wind, sea?	Exercise - go for a walk / run, try yoga… ?	Do some breathing exercises like Wim Hof	Reduce the time you spend on social media + watching the news
Have some ‘Me’ Time - do something that you enjoy	Cuddle a pet	Get creative - cook/bake, dance, colour, sing...	Watch your favourite movie
Listen to music or a podcast	Write in a journal - record your thoughts and feelings	Create a realistic routine	Light a candle
Read a book	Do a good deed	Wake up early to see sunrise	Treat yourself
Go to bed early	Paint your nails	Look back at photographs	Celebrate small achievements - no matter how small
Make a healthy snack	Spend time with family / Talk to a friend	Learn a new skill	Start the day with positive affirmations

Anyone who is experiencing or experienced mental health struggles or supported someone else through it, knows that there is no straight line to recovery. There's no instant cure. Days bring new challenges to face both mentally and physically. But, you just have to preserve and take little steps in the right direction, despite at times going two steps forward then three back again.

Obstacles come our way without any choice. So we need to learn to embrace change, except change, appreciate change and tolerate change as it makes us appreciate new things and helps us see things in a different light.

If you take one thing away from this, just remember you can never fail at being yourself! Don't give yourself a hard time. I know that's so much easier said than done. The voices inside my head sure can be quite convincing at times. But at the end of the day...

“Mental Illness is not a personal failure!”

It's not going to be an easy ride but we will get through it together, no one is alone! Keep holding on tight and ride the rollercoaster!
 

Be your own best friend and every day do what you need, what you can and what you love. 

Thank You

If you would like to get in touch you can email…
Togetherfindinghopeindarkness@outlook.com