I received a Life Is Tough shirt from Cents of Style in exchange for this post.
Life is tough. I’ve come to accept that that is just how it will be. Sometimes life is easy, and we get to float through, but it’s the tough times that help us appreciate those easy times more.
I’ve had this bad habit through my life where I internalize most of my feelings. Unless positive happy joyful words are going to come out of my mouth, I keep it all in. Then I went through a lot of life changes. I became a Mom. I dropped out of school to raise my children. We dealt with many moves as a family, and job losses. I went back to school, while still raising my kids, and also began a business. I started saying YES to everything.
Not all the changes were bad, but some of them were stressful. Most of them were stressful. Everytime a new change was going to happen, I had to remind myself – You’ve made it this far, you’ll make it through this too. And so we have.
There comes a time though, when internalizing all the negative, and never letting anyone help you, can become detrimental. It is OK to be a happy and positive person. It is also OK to laugh through the tough times.
Do you know what else is OK? It’s OK to seek help. It’s OK to tell those around you when you don’t feel good. When life gets tough, it’s OK to take a nap. It’s OK to say “HEY! I’m not happy!”. Life is tough. Asking for help is tough.
But guess what – so are you! You are tough because you are still kicking your way through life. You are tough when you let other people see the real you. The struggling you. You are tough when you let others in to take care of you. You are tough because you know when you need to reach out.
September was labeled as Skirtember by a few of my friends. In an effort to raise awareness of Mental Illness, especially Prenatal depression. For those moms struggling to get dressed each day because mentally it’s too much – my friends were wearing a skirt every day. I tried to join in, and wore a skirt on the days I could.
Truth is, though, I’m struggling. Life got tough for me this month. Prenatal depression is real. On top of it I had some scares with the pregnancy, and physically this little one is taking a toll on my body I didn’t expect. Instead of continuing to smile through the pain though, I’ve reached out. I let people know, and I’m letting you know too.
I rewatched this video this morning and just cried. Life is tough, but as long as we hold on to hope and our Savior, we can be tough to, and we can make it through.
Check out the t-shirt Collection from Cents of Style!
Life is TOUGH! But so are you. So am I. Together we can create a community that helps and lifts each other through the tough times.
