Remember when you were a child and your mother would tell you to take a moment and step into someone's shoes? You were naive. You never considered the lives of others because you were young. All that mattered was what the cafeteria was having for lunch or if your class was going to recess. Your mind was in a better place.
Fast forward to your teen years. In school, the guidance counselors talk about situations you may come across. You are warned of situations that could happen to your friends or in your life that are emotional and life changing. But, you take it like a grain of salt. It's not happening to you. Your family life is stable, you have great friends and nothing will ever change.
Then, one day, everything changes. One day, it happens.
And then, you understand.
"It" can be a variety of things. You could be facing depression. You could be battling an unstable home life. You face a death. You face addiction. You face rape. Whatever "it" is for you, it's detrimental. It's a deterring, climatic point of your life that changes all you know.
The sun looks different. The sky isn't so blue. The outside air isn't as crisp as you remember. Ice cream doesn't taste as good. Life isn't as fulfilling. You never feel like you're content. Everything is different.
Where do you go from here? Well, the only place to go is up. But, only you know how you feel. People will try to tell you it'll be okay. They'll say they understand. They will act as if you're fine and you just need to be stronger. But, they do not know how it feels. They do not know how hard it is to wake up and get out of bed and try again. They don't know what it is like to have this be real. They will never genuinely know until it happens to them, too.
Through this trying time in your life, you must remind yourself two things. This isn't your fault. Now, repeat after me. This isn't your fault. It is way too easy to place the blame on yourself. You must give yourself a break. You're going through enough. Breathe and move forward.
Also, remember this. You're doing the absolute best you can. You're facing the adversity of this situation with all you've got. You wake up everyday and put on a front to get through the day. You are dealing with so much on your plate and you're still kicking butt doing it. You're doing the best you can. Believe this.
Life goes on and life is hard sometimes. I believe everyone reaches a point in their life where "it" happens to them. They face a situation they never thought would happen. And, as a human being you grow from this and find out who you truly are. You only know how it feels. You only know where to go from this. But, no one else will understand until it happens to them. Just like you didn't know how it would feel until it happened to you.
