Let’s be honest: the phrase “mental health matters” is everywhere. You see it on T-shirts, pinned to cork boards in community centres, whispered in wellness podcasts, and written in gentle, pastel coloured fonts on Instagram posts. And while it’s great that we’re all finally talking about our mental health, sometimes it still feels like there’s a gap between the talk and the actual real-life, unfiltered, sticky experience of being human. So let’s go there, respectfully, with humour, and maybe a cuppa in hand. Let’s discuss how we gain growth through struggle.
You Are Not a Malfunctioning Robot
First off, if you’ve ever thought, “Why can’t I just be normal?”, let me just say one , as far as this author is concerned, ‘normal’ is mostly a setting on a washing machine.
Human beings are gloriously complex. You are not a spreadsheet or a productivity app. You are a walking symphony of memories, biology, emotions, caffeine, and dreams. Some days, the orchestra is on fire. Other days, it’s more like a kazoo solo in a wind tunnel. Still art, though.
Mental health isn’t about achieving an eternal zen like state where you never feel anxious, sad, angry, or overwhelmed, that would make you a toaster. Instead, mental health is about resilience. It’s about learning to feel those feelings and still get through the day, even if your socks don’t match and your hair is doing its own thing.
Therapy Isn’t Just for When You’re in a Crisis
Therapy gets a bad rap sometimes, like it’s only for when you’re crying on the bathroom floor at 2 AM (which, to be fair, is a perfectly reasonable time to call for backup). But therapy can also be a place to get to know yourself better, laugh about your weird patterns, and practice saying “no” without needing a 3 page essay of justification.
Think of therapy like getting a mental oil change. You don’t wait until the engine explodes. You go in every now and then and check what’s rattling under the bonnet.
If therapy isn’t accessible for you, you’re not out of luck. Community, journaling, support groups, long walks, prayer, faith practices, and talking with a trusted friend can also be powerful tools. Your brain needs outlets just like your phone needs a charger.
You Don’t Have to Earn Rest
Mental health thrives in rhythms, not in constant hustle. We live in a world that wears busyness like a badge of honour. “I’m so tired” has become a weird flex, like “Look how valuable I must be if I’m this exhausted!”
But you, my friend, do not need to burn out to prove you are worthy.
You don’t have to wait until you’re falling apart to give yourself a break. Rest is not a luxury. It is a right. Your mental health is not selfish. In fact, when you’re well, the people around you feel it too.
So take the nap. Say no to that one more thing. Turn your phone off for an hour. You won’t disappear. You might just come back to yourself.
The Highlight Reel Is Not Real Life
We all know it, but it still hits us. You scroll through social media and suddenly feel like you’re the only one who doesn’t have their life together. There’s someone smiling on a beach with an inspirational quote. There’s another launching their fifth successful business while holding a green smoothie and somehow also fostering six puppies and twelve kittens.
Meanwhile, you’re over here trying to decide if cereal counts as dinner. (It does, by the way.)
Here’s the truth: comparison is the thief of joy and the cousin of anxiety. Your timeline is not behind. Your pace is valid. You are not a failure because someone else is doing something impressive. You are not disqualified from joy just because your journey looks different.
Mental health gets stronger when we stop judging our progress by someone else’s edited version of life.
Laughter Is Legit
There’s a reason memes about anxiety, therapy, and existential dread go viral. We’re laughing because we recognize ourselves. And while mental health is a serious topic, that doesn’t mean we can’t laugh along the way.
Laughter doesn’t belittle pain, it lets us breathe in the middle of it. So yes, crack a joke about your overthinking. Yes, tell your friend about how you tried deep breathing and accidentally hyperventilated. Yes, wear the hoodie that says, “Mentally somewhere else.” (available in the shop soon 😉 )
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s realness. And humour is a powerful way to stay human.
You Are Not Alone
Maybe the most important truth in this whole conversation is this: you are not alone.
Even when your brain tells you that no one would understand, even when you feel like a burden or a bother, you are not the only one feeling this way. There are millions of people carrying invisible stories, learning to manage the noise inside their heads, and trying their best to get up and face the day.
Some of them are sitting across from you at work. Some are walking past you in the supermarket. Some are scrolling this blog right now and some (well, one) is writing this blog.
And you? You are not broken. You are becoming.
You are learning the tools, slowly. You are showing up, even when it’s messy. That matters. Your effort matters. Your heart matters.
Final Thoughts (and an Encouraging Nudge)
Mental health matters because you matter.
You don’t need a diagnosis to justify care. You don’t need a crisis to earn compassion. You just need to be breathing, feeling, trying.
So take the step: reach out, slow down, get support, or just say out loud, “I’m not okay, and that’s okay.”
And maybe, just maybe, let this be the year you stop seeing yourself as a project to fix and start treating yourself like a person worth loving. Because you are.
Now go drink that tea. Or take that nap. Or call that friend. Just do the next kind thing for your brain.
Because mental health matters. And so do you.
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