The Truth Is Also This...

Hi!


First point. Being a kid is hard. There is an overwhelming amount of information to process, things to discover, lessons to learn, tools to develop.


Second point. We are all kids.



One of the toughest phases of humanhood is the one that drags us through the teenage years.


Some sail through, others feel as though they are being dragged naked, feet first, and spread-eagle through a carpet of poisonous cacti.


There are so many cliches out there, so many inspirational quotes, so many phrases lifted from textbooks put forth with the best of intentions. Although most, if not all, hold truth and help a ton of people, I find myself unable to simply spew well-intentioned platitudes.


If you are filled with so much pain that you find yourself cutting as a release, or have come to believe that it's all too much, and the only way out is suicide, platitudes, and cliches just become more noise.


Please hear me.


There are no magic words to make your pain go away. You aren't going to find real relief at the bottom of a bottle of booze or in a needle, or a bong. The answers don't live on the edge of a razor blade.

The truth is, there are so many things that make you feel shitty.

Maybe it's other kids. They want you to feel hated for not being tall enough, short enough, small enough, big enough, rich enough, poor enough, wearing expensive enough, wearing cheap enough, smart enough, pretty enough, jock enough, enough, enough, enough...


Maybe it's the adults in your life. Your marks aren't good enough, you're not respectful enough, not popular enough, don't clean your room enough, enough, enough...

Maybe it's both, maybe it's all.


The truth is also this.

When you cut, drink, or otherwise try to disappear, all you are doing is punishing yourself further for the fictional transgressions others have forced upon you.

Throughout your life, you will encounter again and again people who feel the need to make you feel smaller. Those who will try to shrink who you are. Don't help them.

You will find your people. The people that get you. The people that embrace and love you for, not in spite of, your specific brand of weird. They may not attend your school or even live in your house, but they are out there waiting for you. Don't deprive yourself of an incredible life because of a group of adolescent asshats who, at this moment in time, are completely incapable of empathy, or a family that, at least at this moment, doesn't fit.


This hollow darkness that wants to consume you is not infinite. It has a shelf life. It has edges. It's not some mystical thing. It has causes, effects, and resolutions.


This is also true.

Life is hard. It's okay to ask for help and okay to accept it. Help looks different for everyone.



For those who seem to live carrying out a mission of hate...


Just know this...


We all know the real reasons for your behavior. You vomit insults to make yourself feel more than, bigger than, better than.

We all know the only reason people do this. Fear.

Fear of people finding out you aren't really the person you portray. Fear that people will see the insecurities that lurk behind and beneath your insults. The fear of the fact that your persona doesn't even come close to matching who you really are, and this will come to light. If you keep the light on those you can get others to see as "less than," you can keep it off of you.

You don't need to step on others to lift yourself.

Life is hard. It's okay to ask for help and okay to accept it. Help looks different for everyone.



Life leaves scars. Some left by others, some self-inflicted. Scars don't make us victims, they make us warriors.


We are all more than worthy of a fantastic life. A life that fits who we are, and who we want to be. It's there for the making, it's there for the taking, in spite of the asshats of the world.




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May you, if not in this minute, soon, see yourself as the unicorn you are.
May you see, if you just let yourself, that at your core, you're a star.

May you know that you are the one who writes the script of your life's odyssey.
May you understand that you, the author, decide where the spotlight lingers, do so with honesty.

May you see the asshats that cross your path for the broken humans they truly are.
May you see through the bravado and witness the fear, they don't deserve your power, after all, you're the star.



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