Powerful words from Mikaela Shiffrin as she shares about her own struggles on this Mental Health Action Day. Action looks different for everyone. Mental Health Action Day encourages and empowers everyone to take action for themselves, for their loved ones, or for their community based on what works best for them. MORE INFO HERE:
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned so far in my career is that one thing we all can absolutely relate to is struggle. Even with all of the talk of my successes this season and through my career, I’ve seen far more failure and struggle than triumph.
Most days in life don’t go perfectly—far from it. That’s not meant to be scary, it’s meant to be honest. More than anything, it’s something that helps us connect with each other. Not everyone knows what it feels like to stand on top of the podium at an Olympics, or to become a World Champion—but everyone, every single person, knows what it feels like to face challenge, and to be resilient through that challenge. Everyone has failed, felt fear, anxiety, some level of depression at times, pressure.
We will all loose someone we love dearly, and we will all experience grief so extreme it can be crippling. Those challenges are such an engrained part of life that it’s not worth hiding them, or running away from them. I’ve found it’s far more useful to use our own experiences to help us connect with each other, lift each other up, understand more about others and in many cases learn something about ourselves as well. To me, that connection goes hand in hand with resilience.
On this Mental Health Action Day, I want to encourage everyone to consciously take time to make connection—with others and with themselves. That connection could be anything at all, but it should be something that feels important to you or is helpful to someone around you in an endeavor that feels important to them. And take a moment to reflect on your own life, and the challenges you have faced.
Appreciate yourself for how resilient you have been, and how resilient you remain. Thank yourself for your own mental strength and mental health even during the moments when you didn’t feel strong at all. Thank those around you for how they may have helped you along the way when you needed a lift. Look for the connection you feel in the hardest moments, and embrace that to help you through it.
Nobody is truly alone in what they feel, I have to remind myself of that on a daily basis, but it’s really the truth. You’re not alone. You can go to mentalhealthishealth.us for resources to take action.
