You've just graduated from college getting ready to head into a new chapter, and you can't find a job to pay back your loans. It's your first semester of graduate school and you just bombed your first exam after hours upon hours of studying. You were rushing around this morning and got in the car, forgetting you needed to stop for gas. You remembered once your car stopped and the needle on the big "E" was taunting you. You had a fallout with your best friend and now they're being a jerk to you despite your attempts for reconciliation.

Whenever you're in these situations or one similar, it seems like the entire world is falling apart. I have always said that there are so many reasons to be happy, but there are also a lot of circumstances that can rightfully leave a person feeling alone, abandoned, or devastated. It's important to recognize those feelings, but you also need to recognize your realm of control and the reality of grace.

I get it. You want to be successful. You want to do things with your life. You have goals you want to accomplish. You also want a social life. And sleep. And to be able to pay your bills. And to be the best possible parent that your children deserve. And.. And..

The pressures of adulthood are very real. Between work, family, school, and other pursuits, it is very easy to get overwhelmed. Mental health can often take a toll, and it isn't always recognized or given the importance that it should. I think the reason behind this is that a lot of things that cause us stress are our responsibilities. We recognize these things that bring us stress as imperative tasks, so it's easy to power through and hide your feelings of being overwhelmed.

Friend, don't do this to yourself.

Allow yourself to screw up. It doesn't mean you're a failure. It just means that you're a human.

The only perfect human to walk the earth was Jesus, and it's very easy to fall into the trap of perfectionism. I know, I've done it plenty of times.

In all reality though, you can only control how you respond to circumstances. You can't control how someone is going to react or many of the circumstances themselves. Giving yourself grace is important as well. This is something that I am still learning to do personally. It's okay to have a bad day. It's okay to oversleep once in a while. It's a mere accident. It doesn't make you an irresponsible or bad person.

Apparently, World Mental Health Day was not too long ago, so this topic is quite fitting. Your worth as a person is not defined in how you perform or what you do. Your worth is found in the selfless gift that Jesus gave you. He died for your imperfections because He loved you. Imagine that? The only perfect man to ever walk the earth thought a bunch of imperfect people were worth sacrificing His life for. Don't understand it. That's okay. Me neither, I'm just grateful.