mental health awareness

#MentalHealth #MensMentalHealth #healingjourney #olderandwiser #MentalHealthAwareness #menandmentalhealth #growth #PeaceOfMind #resilience #keeppushing #healingtakestime #emotionalstrength

I woke up today feeling something I haven’t felt in a long time #peace . Not the kind that comes from everything going right but the kind that comes when you finally stop fighting what’s out of your control.

As an older man, life has taught me lessons I didn’t ask for. I’ve walked through anger, loneliness, disappointment and silence that could swallow a person whole. I used to carry everything inside, thinking it was strength until it started breaking me quietly.

There was a time I couldn’t recognize myself. My temper was short, my patience even shorter. I pushed people away without meaning to. I told myself I was fine when, deep down, I was falling apart. But age has a way of softening a man. It humbles you. It teaches you that healing isn’t about forgetting the pain; it’s about learning to live beyond it.

These days, I take things slower. I listen more. I spend more time outside, breathing in moments instead of rushing through them. My mind still gets loud sometimes but now I know how to quiet it with prayer, reflection and gratitude for simply being alive.

I’m not fully healed yet but I can say this: I’m no longer who I was. And maybe that’s enough for today.

If you’ve ever been through a similar journey; if you’ve had to rebuild yourself quietly... I’d love to hear how you found your peace too.

Life has a way of surprising us with what it gives. Some gifts arrive beautifully wrapped — moments of joy, laughter, love, and connection. Others show up unannounced and unwanted — loss, disappointment, and struggle. Yet, in their own quiet way, every experience carries something we’re meant to receive.

The easy gifts are simple to recognize. They fill our hearts and remind us why it’s good to be alive. But the hard ones — those often go unnoticed until time softens the edges. Sometimes, the very things that once brought us pain end up teaching us the most about who we are.

The heartbreak that made us more compassionate.
The setback that taught us patience.
The failure that led to growth.

These are the hidden gifts — the kind that can only be unwrapped through reflection and acceptance.

When we start to look at life through this lens, even our struggles begin to shift in meaning. They become teachers rather than punishments. Every challenge offers an opportunity to grow, to see differently, to understand ourselves and others more deeply.

It’s easy to focus on what we lack or what we’ve lost. But when we pause to see what life has already given — even in the smallest ways — gratitude begins to change everything.

So, take a moment today to think about your own journey. What gifts has life placed in your hands? What lessons have quietly shaped you along the way?

✨ Share in the comments: What’s one “gift” life has given you that didn’t look like a gift at first?

Because sometimes, the most meaningful gifts aren’t the ones we ask for — they’re the ones we never expected.

Bigmommaj
#Gifts #MentalHealthAwareness #growth

Please think of something you can post on Oct 10th #MentalHealth #MentalIllness #MentalHealthAwareness #WorldMentalHealthDay

When you’re younger, your cup is whole, but as you grow older the hole begins to grow.

Out from the cup your water flows into others, the flow only passing on and on.

The day comes when you realize,

’well what about me?’

but you let it go on too long, you let it happen too much and now you’ll never be complete. #MentalHealth #MentalHealthAwareness #Insomnia #LateNightThoughts #ADHD #exhausted #BipolarDepression

The Switch Flipped
by Jenn Dacey

Intro:
This is the exact moment I stopped shrinking myself to fit into places I had outgrown.

Don’t push a good person to the point where they no longer give a fuck.
Because once the switch flips, it’s over.
The softness doesn’t disappear—
it just stops being available to people who took it for granted.
The love doesn’t die—
it just stops being handed out like a goddamn reward for bad behavior.

I was the good person.
The one who stayed too long.
Loved too hard.
Apologized too quickly.
Forgave too easily.

I gave benefit of the doubt like it was oxygen.
I extended grace even when I was gasping.
I showed up for people who forgot me the moment their storms passed.
And every time, I told myself, “That’s just who I am.”

But now?

The switch flipped.

I don’t chase.
I don’t beg.
I don’t overexplain.
If you fumble me, you lose me.
No second act. No soft return. No “maybe they’ll change.”

I’ve changed.

That’s what no one expected.
That I would rise—not bitter, but brutal.
Not angry, but awake.
Not heartless, but healed.

You can’t guilt me into going back.
You can’t charm me into forgetting.
I’m not waiting for closure anymore—I am the closure.

The girl who used to cry for love is gone.
She’s resting now.
She did her job.
She kept me alive.

But I’m driving now.
And I don’t take passengers who can’t handle the weight of my worth.

If you wanted me,
you should’ve shown up for me.
When I cried,
when I begged,
when I whispered “I need you” with every ounce of strength I had left—
that was your moment.

But you let it pass.
You watched me unravel,
and stayed silent.
You mistook my patience for weakness,
my forgiveness for permission.

You thought I’d always be there.
But now?

The door’s locked.
The key?
It was made of things you don’t carry:
accountability.
honesty.
effort.
respect.

I don’t owe anyone my undoing ever again.

You don’t get to miss me now that I’m unavailable.
You don’t get to regret what you lost
when you never fought to keep it.

I’m not ice cold.
I’m just done melting for people
who only liked me when I was easy to pour into a glass.

I loved you.
I wanted it to work.
I dreamed of being enough.

But now I realize—
you weren’t even enough for you.

And I’m not staying small to make you feel big.

I have finally, finally arrived
in the space where my peace matters more than your presence.

So if you’re wondering what happened,
if you’re scrolling through our old messages looking for cracks—
here’s your answer:

The switch flipped.

And I’ll never be that soft again
for someone who made me feel like I was hard to love.

#theswitchflipped #traumahealing
#MentalHealthAwareness #Selfworth #BipolarDepression #Suicide #Grief #FromDarknessToLight
#keepgoing
#WhenNothingElseWorked
#SpravatoHope
#strongerthanmystorm
#writingtoheal
#SpravatoSavedMe