Living the Half Full Life

Can I be the 100th person to wish you a Happy New Year? And congrats on making it through 2020!

2021 seems to bring this hope with it. Hope that we have escaped the game of Jumanji that we were in all of 2020. Hope that life is going to go back to “normal.”

But let’s be honest—what changed between 11:59 p.m December 31st and 12:00 a.m January 1st?

Our problems have not disappeared with the year. 

That hit me hard as I was ringing in the New Year. 

I realized it has been about 4 years since the thought first crossed my mind that I was depressed. And it seems like no matter what I have done to fix that—the therapy, the medications, the spiritual awakenings—it still comes back. 

On a world wide scale: civil unrest is still there, along with racism, terror, hatred, and a pandemic. 

Now I don’t want to put a damper on your New Year. But let me suggest a new mindset coming into 2021. 

Change. 

I am not really talking about New Year’s resolutions, ‘cause if I am going to be honest, I can never remember what I “resolved” to do every new year. 

I am talking about using this new turn of a leaf to make an internal desire to change this world we have lived in. I don’t know about you, but 2020 has really helped me realize that we got some problems. 

The Lorax says it best:

“Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”

Not all of us can change laws. We can’t fix other people’s racist ideas. Not all of us can make a vaccine to cure COVID-19 (fingers crossed this one will work). 

But we can make a difference in our own circle of influence. Our own families, roommates, neighbors, friends. 

You may not be able to change the world, but you can change someone’s world. 

I know, because I am only alive to write this blog because of the people who changed mine. 

I think of one of my old mission companions I was able to call this week because I was having a mental breakdown, and when she followed up later to help me know she really did care.

I think of my sister who knew I was having a hard time when I was sprawled across the couch, when she helped me get to bed (and got me water to make sure I wasn’t dehydrated after crying). 

I think of all the people who tell me to keep writing this blog because it means something to them. Thank you for reading. 

I think of how all these people have made a change in themselves to better understand mental health, so they can help those around them, and alleviate their own struggles.  

As a mental health advocate, I care an awful lot about mental health. And I am going to try and fight the stigmas around mental health so people can find the courage to get the help they need. 

My challenge to you all? Care. Care an awful lot. Because if anything is going to get better in 2021, we need some things to change. 

Why can’t you be the one to change it?