To Anyone With a Mental Illness Who Feels 'Broken' Today

To all the broken ones out there: Hear me when I say that you are not alone. We’re all a little broken. Some of us are a lot broken, but that’s OK too. We are brothers and sisters together in this fight.

It’s OK if your tears hit the floor every night, while you sit alone in the dark. You’re allowed. It’s OK to cry, but know you’re never truly alone, and you will not cry forever. One day you will take a breath and find those tears aren’t waiting there for you the way they always seem to be. I know you don’t believe me right now, but that’s OK too. You don’t have to believe me for it to happen. You just have to hold on long enough for it to happen. That day will come, so don’t let go.

It’s OK if you think you’ll never really know how to love or be loved in return. You are loved. I promise you, it’s true. You may not know it, and you may not believe it, but that’s OK because it’s still true. You are loved. Someone out there needs your gentle smile, your genuine laugh, your devotion and determination. Maybe you don’t feel like you have any of those things, but you do. You just can’t see it right now. That’s OK. Just keep holding on; you will see it. One day, the fog is going to clear and you are going to see the beautiful person you are. And you will realize you’ve always known how to love and be loved. You were just afraid.

It’s OK if fear seems like the only emotion you can find inside yourself sometimes. No one likes the feeling of fear, but it has the potential to make us stronger. We need only stand up to that fear, and tell it where to go. Don’t let fear own you. Don’t let it write your story. Don’t let it stop you. Fear is not the only thing you will ever feel. You are strong — so much stronger than you know. It’s OK to feel that fear, but don’t let it consume you. Fear doesn’t deserve to take up that much space in your heart.

It’s OK if you can’t see brighter days ahead. They are there. They really are. Sometimes they are impossible to see because you’re searching for the sun at midnight. You’re looking for the light in the middle of the darkness, and you think it just isn’t there, and never will be. But I’m telling you, it’s there. And in its own time, it will show itself. You just have to be brave and hold on until then. Hold on; the sun is coming for you. Don’t let midnight fool you into thinking the light will never return. Because no matter what, the sun always rises.

So you think you’re not good enough? Not smart enough? Not strong enough? Not enough?

You’re wrong.

You are beautifully, wonderfully, perfectly broken. We are all broken in some way, somehow. It’s not our brokenness that hurts us so badly, it’s how we perceive it. It’s how we view our brokenness that destroys our souls so much. Broken is beautiful. There is nothing wrong with you. No, not even you. No matter what anyone has told you, there is nothing wrong with you. You are exactly who you are supposed to be. You are exactly how you are supposed to be. You are the only one who is broken in exactly the way you are. Those cracks, and scratches, and scars are yours and yours alone. But you are in good company because we are all a little broken. It’s what makes us so incredible. Despite it all, we can still shine.

After all, those cracks are how the light gets in.