How Being a Mentor Has Impacted My Own Mental Health Recovery

During my recovery process, one of the things that helped me greatly was having a mentor. She was able to give me useful advice, to listen and understand me, and I felt like I had someone who could finally relate to me. She was truly an instrumental part in the success of my recovery and has inspired me to become a mentor.

I try my best to help inspire them the way my mentor inspired me, and I understand that different methods work for different people so what worked for me won’t always work for them. I’m happy to even be able to help someone on a process that shouldn’t be dealt with alone. I’m happy to share my journey and story to someone who may benefit from those lessons.

There are times when I speak to my mentees and I see so much of myself in them. I remember feeling hopeless, lost, discouraged and weak. I remember all those times I didn’t think recovery would be worth it. Hearing them talk sometimes triggers those memories, and sometimes it makes me think about how easy it is to relapse.

But I remember I am strong and have seen the beauty recovery has to offer. Life is full of wonder, hope and beauty that I hope my mentees one day realize for themselves.

Being a mentor has helped me remember my journey and how far I’ve come. It’s helped me remember my story has a purpose and sharing it may help keep someone from hitting the same wall I once hit.

My mentees have helped me in more ways than they could ever imagine. I went into a mentorship program with the intent of helping others and I hope that’s what I’ve done — but I didn’t imagine how much it’d help me. It helps me reaffirm the beauty in life by always remembering there’s hope out there. It helps me remember all those people in my life who wanted to see me win. It helps me believe in the power of love in all forms. It reminds me I’m not weak just because I have weak moments. It reminds me I am stronger than I take myself for.

To my mentees — I hope I have impacted your life in any way. I hope I have helped you, even just a little bit, to see that recovery and life are worth it. I hope you one day not only see but believe in your beauty and strength. I have a lot to thank you for — you remind me every day that helping others is important and that I myself have a lot to offer.

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Thinkstock photo via DragonImages