Supporting Our Valued Adolescents: A place to learn, share your strength, be positive, and grow.
I believe that everyone should embrace who they are, and be proud of their unique traits, but how can I do that if I don’t even know who I am? I always knew that I was just going to be myself, and see where life takes me, but it hasn’t been that simple. I am a good student with great grades, I have amazing friends who support me through anything, my family is wonderful, so what else could I possibly be troubled with?
One of my strongest held convictions is that we have the most powerful influence on the world we live in. We are in control of how we treat each other, our society, and our environment. It is therefore up to us to take action against what is wrong in our world. One of the things we need to take action against is inequality in the workplace.
Do you ever feel like you are constantly losing or failing in that one area of your life you are trying so hard to be successful in? Do you ever know the “right” thing to do in a situation mentally but don’t actually act on that knowledge? It can be hard – especially for those of us who are in therapy or other forms of counseling and are doing the work to improve our mental health. Having head knowledge of how to change but not implementing it can make you feel terrible. It’s like, am I even trying to change? If I were, wouldn’t this be easier? If only our will alone could lead to long-lasting change.
If I had known today how my life would be as I look towards the completion of my undergraduate degree, I would’ve been shocked by the person I am today. Everything about myself has changed; I finally came out as a lesbian and met my current girlfriend, I finished my chemistry degree, and I have taken charge of my own mental health.
I was at a plant warehouse sale a few days ago. We had to wait in line for about an hour before going in. Lucky for us, it was nice out that morning. The sun was beating down on us, a cool breeze was blowing, and there was a food truck selling biscuits and coffee. I was standing there taking it all in. I felt like this was the first Saturday that I actually went out and did something planned in so long — since the fall at the very earliest.
Earlier at the beginning of the new year, I set a lot of different goals for myself. These goals focused on finance, career, health and wellness, relationships, and even hobbies. All in all, some goals are ones that I have been able to knock out of the park and already hit when others will take longer to attain. Something I have realized already is that some things take time to occur, and my hard work will eventually pay off on them.
Chances are, you’ve been feeling or likely have recently felt like a blob. That sluggish, lethargic feeling is understandable – spending so much time indoors, in front of a screen, and being limited to interacting with others virtually sucks a lot of energy out of people, even if it doesn’t require a lot of activity.
It’s impossible to be in control of our emotions all the time. After all, we’re only human, and we react to things in different ways as they happen, whether we want to or not. We may get overly excited about something we’re passionate about during a time when it’s probably not the most appropriate, or we might find ourselves getting a little too heated when someone insults someone close to us.
I’ve always grew up being the kid who was good at everything. I always was praised for being the kind, helpful, smart little kid. Though these adjectives would occasionally boost my ego, they also had consequences. Once I had started to truly listen to these high praises, their words established an effect on me. I began believing that if I wasn’t always the perfect child at everything, I wouldn’t be loved anymore. I thought that I needed to always be the best, and while a hardworking mindset can be great, it hurt my self-esteem.
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Just posted a photo https://www.instagram.com/p/CFcUy_RDVS2/?igshid=1bg1yrmt94we5
