On the Importance of Unfinished Health and Wellness Stories

“The mountain, boy it was a hard climb, but the smell of success is the wind in my hair and the sun on my skin.”

You’ve heard it before, right?

The success story. I can write the template right now.

“It was a tough journey and I had to face hard truths and wanted to give up, but never fear because I’m here. I’ve made it and you can too!”

It is what built America (well, that and a bit of tea and stealing land from the Native Americans, and I digress…).

Don’t get me wrong — I’m all for an inspirational success story. Can you say Hallmark Christmas movie? Nonfiction how-to-succeed books? Motivational speeches?

I love and crave them. I would go so far as to say we need them. They lift us up and are so important to remember in the midst of trial. They inspire us and give us a sense of hope and connection and that is powerful.

But something we should remember is that while we all have different moments of success throughout our lives, a lot of it is just us still in the story; struggling, wondering how on earth we can make it through our own version of the “depths of despair” (to quote “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery).

I believe right now, in many ways, I’m in the middle of a success story. I’m playing medicine-go-round with a psychiatrist to see if we can find a better fit. It’s been months. I’m working with a therapist whom I appreciate but am not sure if they fully grasp the best treatment methods for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). I’m not sleeping well and constantly feel stressed about the future.

That’s where The Mighty comes in. Yes, they have great inspirational and education stories and I really enjoy them! However, they also leave room for people to just be and share exactly where they are at without shame. You can create an account, it doesn’t even need to be your real name if you want to maintain privacy, and post or comment on other posts.

You can share your unfinished stories, your bad days prior to getting to another success point, your failures or lack of motivation. Your Mighty contributors might have the one coping skill you haven’t heard of that makes a big difference. But they aren’t going to shove solutions down your throat because they’ve been in the unfinished success story.

We all have.

If you’re interested, share your unfinished story, your struggle. Someday it will be a success, but for now you can just be you. No grand successes required.

Follow this journey at Remedies for the Anxious Heart.