Being a self aware person doesn't mean I view myself as a good person. I think a lot of people get that confused. It literally means that I am vigilant of both my light and dark side. I have also made peace with my flaws even though I’m always working through them.
Ngl… this year dragged my mental health through the mud in ways I wasn’t ready for. It felt like every time I caught my breath, life threw something else at me. I had days where I was strong, and days where I was barely holding on. But I’m still here… bruised a little, tired a lot, but still fighting. This year tested me harder than anything, but it also showed me I’m tougher than I thought.
The real problem is, most of us were raised by parents who were just surviving so they taught us survival, not life. No one sat us down to explain how debt works, how to self soothe, how to say 'no' without guilt, or how to walk away from love that hurts. We weren't shown what emotional safety looks like, we were just told to keep the peace, suppress the feelings and work harder. Now we're adults paying bills on autopilot, spiraling in relationships, mistaking burnout for success and calling anxiety our personality. Lost, overwhelmed and wondering why we feel broken when in reality, we were just never taught the basics of being whole.