You Are Brave And So Much Stronger Than You Know

I see you and I know . . . 

I see you. You with the crippling depression who can barely get out of bed in the morning.

You who struggles to see the joy and purpose in life anymore.

You whose hope is fading, wondering if you will ever feel alive again.

I see you.

I see you. You who is struggling with chronic pain and illness and discouragement, wondering if you will ever feel healthy again.

You who is wondering if there will be a day when you wake up and feel no pain.

You who is now struggling with anxiety because you never know what each day will bring and whether or not you can cope with doing what you have to do.

I see you.

RELATED: My Anxiety Makes Me Feel Like I Fail Over and Over Again

I see you. You who has crippling anxiety.

You who finds the simplest things normal people can do, paralyze you.

You who constantly wishes you could be normal too.  

You who wonders why you feel this way and if or when you will ever be free of this tight feeling in your chest or that sick feeling in your stomach.

I see you.

I see you. You who is struggling with insomnia.

You can’t sleep and walk through most of your days in a haze.

Other people don’t understand because they don’t know how important sleep is to function until they aren’t getting it anymore.  

You who wonder if you will ever be able to enjoy your days again and not just exist through them.

I see you.

I see you. You who is facing that horrible loss.

Whether it be a death, a relationship, a job, or the broken dreams of life not turning out as you had planned.

You live each day numb to what is going on around you.

Aching for what was or what could have been.

I see you.

I see you because I know. I’ve been there.

I don’t understand each of these circumstances to the extent of many of my sweet friends struggling, but I have experienced many of them at various points, and it is hard.

Let me tell you that you are brave—so brave—getting up each and every morning and facing your day despite how you feel.  

RELATED: Check on Your “Strong” Friend, She’s Faking it

You are so strong. To push through that pain, that anxiety, that depression, that sleeplessness, that loss and to do what you have to do knowing that most people around you have no idea how much effort it costs you.

You are capable of so much more than you think.

This depression, this anxiety, this pain, this sleeplessness, this loss—while it seems like you will never be past your struggle, these burdens can make you stronger.

They can change who you are and they can change you for the better. They can refine your character. They can make you more patient, more grateful, more compassionate, more able to share in the sufferings of others.  

Hold on to that hope. Hold on to that promise. It does get better. If all you managed to do today was exist, that’s enough. You’ve got this sweet friend. You are not alone. You are seen.

And maybe one day when you are past this particular pain or even in the midst of the storm, you can reach out to someone else who is struggling with the same thing and you can point them to hope, to truth, to peace. And you can tell them they are so brave and so strong and that they’ve got this too. 

Originally published on the author’s blog