It’s 3 AM on a casual Thursday night.
You’re lying awake on what has become another sleepless night.
You wish you could sleep for another few hours before your alarm clock tells you otherwise.
You wish your brain wasn’t filled with countless thoughts that trigger memories and emotions you would much rather keep hidden.
The next day, it starts all over. You’re wide awake, only this time, it’s 2 am.
It’s another sleepless night you know will turn into weeks of insomnia. It’s another battle inside your head that pulls you in two different directions, between demons locked deep inside your subconscious.
These voices creep into the night and infect your brain with negative thoughts.
You desperately wish you could switch it off, with a magic button that’s just as easy to use as a remote control. But, instead, the reality of life hits you like a wave at sea that these thoughts are there, in your brain, watching and waiting to strike at precisely the right moment.
This is depression. And this is real.
But what we fail to understand is that depression lies. It tells you things that aren’t true to drag you into a world filled with darkness.
Depression tells you you’re a burden. Depression tells us we’re nothing but a waste of space. But each and every one of us has a purpose on this planet along with dreams and goals for us to fulfil.
Depression tells you things will get worse, but things will always get better. After rain comes sunshine, and the only reason you experience bad days is to be grateful for the good ones.
Depression tells you something’s wrong with you, but you are perfectly normal. You are unique, and there’s nothing wrong with embracing your flaws, strengths, and weaknesses, because that’s what makes you who you are.
Depression tells you you’re lonely, but no one is really alone. You have friends you can count on to support you. You have a family that would stand by your side through all the hurdles in life, because that’s what families do.
Depression tells you you’re weak, but you’re so much stronger than you think. Because acknowledging your weakness is strength in itself, and the definition of strong is entirely up to you.
Depression lies because we all matter. YOU matter.
Because you are loved.
Because this pain you’re experiencing isn’t strange, but sadly, a familiar experience too many of us know all too well.
I know you feel alone.
I know you feel as if you aren’t worth it.
I know you feel like the responsibilities of college or work are far too overwhelming to handle.
But they aren’t. While life has its fair share of hardships, it is filled with beauty that depression tries to hide.
And when we acknowledge that beauty, you will understand the lies depression tells you, and you will choose not to believe them.
Featured image via Elijah O’Donnell on Pexels
