Tell me if this sounds familiar.
You recognize a problem, maybe it is a physical pain or sickness, maybe it is some sadness or feelings of depression.
You minimize it in your head and forge on with your life. You’ve felt this way before and it just went away with time. This too shall pass.
A week later, it is a little worse. It is festering in your mind and starting to affect your day-to-day life. But you’re tough right?
So, you continue to keep your head down and disregard it.
A month has gone by and you’re starting to get more miserable by the day. Now you’re irritable at the littlest of things. You’ve stopped exercising as regularly. You started to sleep a little worse. Your motivation to complete simple tasks you usually enjoy has dwindled away. I’ll figure this out eventually you tell yourself, but you continue to choose to adopt the mindset of “that’s just life” or “this is just a phase.”
Another month went by, you’re still in pain and now you realize you need to get some help but aren’t ready to ask for it yet. So, you try and figure your problem out on your own. But you’re lost, frustrated, and not thinking clearly because of the pain and discomfort. You’re not happy and missing a part of yourself. Hopelessness sets in and you ask yourself constantly if you’re ever going to regain your previous form.
A couple more weeks go by and you hit a breaking point. You ask for help. You finally work up the courage to make a doctor's appointment and tell someone fully what is going on with you. More importantly, you fully acknowledge your problem and are honest with yourself for the first time since this began. A weight is released off your shoulders instantly.
Those seemingly simple actions made you feel better. That feeling of relief feels so good you seek out more actions that can help.
“Well exercise always makes me feel good!” So, you restart a regular exercise routine.
You start to feel a little better. So, you ask yourself, what else am I not doing that usually makes me feel good? You start going out of your way to do things that make you feel better for the sake of selfcare.
Before you know it, you are consciously practicing various forms of self-care every day and your problem that previously felt overwhelming and unbearable with no end in sight has become just a small speed bump.
The problem seems to be resolved almost as quickly as it started. You’re able to regain your previous form. You might even feel stronger now.
This is my own personal story of how I allowed my depression to totally derail me for nearly 3 months this year. I wrote a bit about it in these two posts last month.
When 3 Days turns into 3 Months and Forrest Gump & Mental Health.
I’m thankful I have the skillset to address my own physical and mental struggles as a direct result of my profession and my nerdy interests. I know and preach constantly how important it is to be proactive with your health, so you’re not forced to be reactive at a later date.
However, in my experience not everyone is equipped with the proper tools to handle these situations. Whether it is their mental health or physical. Dealing with your problems is difficult. They are time and energy demanding.
But I promise you to live in pain or as a lesser version of yourself is even more time and energy demanding.
When you’re making the choice not to seek out help, you’re losing precious quality time you could be spending with your loved ones. Choosing to live with that knee pain, back pain, shoulder issue and not doing activities you’ve always loved instead of seeking help to address the pain head on and regain function is robbing yourself of your time on earth.
I’m in no way saying this is going to be quick and easy. Your pain might take months or years to overcome. Or hell it might be something you have to face head on every single day for the rest of your life just to function at your highest level. But, this much I know, choosing to do something about it and setting your mindset to a victory mindset and not a victim mindset is going to lead you to having a higher quality of life than the alternative of I’ll “just live with it.”
You have a choice every day to make choices that either enhance your life or limit your life.
Be proactive with your health, both physical and mental, so you aren’t forced to become reactive with endless doctors’ appointments, countless prescriptions, and having to sit on the sidelines because you had too much pride or stubbornness to admit you were struggling before it was too late.
Share this with your stubborn friends and family members who struggle with asking for help as a reminder that they are not alone and you are there for them.