My story!

July 2022: The thoughts hit me unexpectedly. I always knew about mental health but it was never something I took seriously. I always thought "This could never happen to me, I have everything I need". The truth is, mental health has no remorse. It takes the most full of life people and drags them down. I knew as a kid I was an anxious person but I never would have guessed myself to be depressed. I am an upbeat goofy person, the life of the party so I can't be depressed right? Wrong. I had these thoughts that everything that happened to me was my fault, life is not worth it, and I'm a failure just to name a few. While some may see it as dramatic I was going through a lot of change in my life which is normal but why am I thinking like this? I wondered for a while if one day I would just wake up and it would go away but it never did. After a few weeks of nothing changing, I had my first panic attack. I remember it like it was yesterday; my chest got tight, I was shaking, and I couldn't control my breathing. I knew then I needed to seek help. The soonest appointment was a week away and I didn't think I would make it to then but I damn sure waited it out. At first, I didn't try to be better. I would sit through therapy telling my therapist everything was fine knowing it wasn't. Just the thought of accepting I had depression and anxiety made me anxious. Then something clicked, "I'm here to get better, they want to help me". From then on I started wanting it for myself. I looked forward to therapy, I wanted to become a better human for not only myself but for those closest to me. Therapy went on for months and slowly but surely I began putting the pieces back together, to be better I had to do better, working and then coming home and sleeping was not doing better so I had to do more for myself. I started getting involved in other aspects of my life such as helping the volleyball program at my old high school, going to my sister's cheer practices, and getting in the gym.

April 2023: I went to Disney World for the first time for my little sister's cheer competition. I can truly say I never thought what I believed to be a place for kids would heal my soul in so many ways. I found the true meaning of life in Disney. HAPPINESS. Being happy is the key to my life and fortunately, I can create that myself.

April 2024: I can not say I was always able to create happiness for myself. Over the last two years, I have found joy in doing things on my own such as going to music festivals alone, traveling alone, and creating a website to promote mental health awareness. None of my friends/family know I have been working on this for a while and I am so glad I finally get to share it with you! My contact information is located at the top of the page if you EVER need a friend and I plan to have my own mental health awareness tees in the future.

You are safe here! Be unapologetically you!