You Are Never Alone

You Are Never Alone

Written by Lisa Whiteman          

We all get anxious, we all get frustrated, and we all get depressed.  These emotions tend to make us feel so lonely and like these are only our experiences and our experiences alone.  During a bout of depression, I sometimes feel embarrassed to admit I feel this way as though I will be judged by everyone who knows me.  When I get angry at my kids and lose my temper, I always think how badly people would view me if they knew I could be so short and not have it all together every day.  This is the first time in human history we have had so much emotional pressure on us and have feelings on top of feelings.  We can’t just be depressed; we also must be shameful for being depressed.  We can’t just be angry we also have to feel disappointment in ourselves for being angry.  We can’t just be sad; we must feel failure since we can’t be stoic and strong twenty-four hours a day seven days a week.  As though anger and depression aren’t bad enough, we must add layers of more emotional pain to ourselves and then judge with a sharp sword for having them.  How exhausting.  Even writing this feels a level of unnecessary stress from merely thinking about it.  Through all this we blame ourselves and believe we are the only ones going through this, no one else could possibly get depressed.  We compare our lifestyle to others and convince ourselves that the person who owns more or has less debt or a nicer car has no reason to be depressed.  How very wrong you will be, some people tend to hide it and society has taught us these sorts of things are signs of weakness.  The person you think is living their best life with no apparent struggles, could be suffering a great deal with loneliness or anxiety or depression.  These emotions are not yours to take ownership on, these are emotions we all share, provided we may experience different levels and magnitudes, however we all experience them.  I have felt so disappointed in myself that I cannot shake the blues or snap out of a seasonal depression and hold myself accountable any time I feel anxious about something.  Maybe it is just the environment or time of year or amount we do in a day, and we need to give ourselves a break.  Nobody is batting a thousand in life and never feeling low, or lonely, or depressed and reading it that way seems quite ridiculous that we believed that does it not?  No one avoids these things; nobody gets to escape knowing what anxiety feels like or frustration or loneliness.  These are not your emotions to own, we all have them, we have all battled them and we need to normalize them as being shared experiences, so we no longer have to suffer in silence.  You are not alone.