This is what progress looks like

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By Jesse Roth-Harvey

Today, I decided to do things a little differently. After a conversation last night with one of my best friends, I realized that I’m not the only one who often has the feeling that I’m in a midlife crisis. I’ve wrote about this before – about the uneasy feeling that lives inside of me, the feeling of unfulfillment, the feeling that I’m not successful enough, or that I have so much more I want to accomplish but I’m unsure how to accomplish it.

So, I’ve discovered that my problem is going from step A, which is me deciding what I want to do, to step B, which is me actually accomplishing said task. I think I lack the ability to put a plan into motion. This is my weakness, which is weird, because I’m a very well organized person. My plans usually sound really good and would make me feel very accomplished if I achieved them, but I don’t always get there. Sound familiar? It should.

I’ve been writing about this in my blog for years now. I’ve been stating that I know there’s more I’m supposed to be doing. I know that this isn’t “it”for me, and I know that I’m not alone when I say that. So now that I have activated my body and my mind is in a healthy state, I am more excited than ever to finally put the steps in place in order to fulfill all of my goals.

I want to advocate for mental health

I think what I’ve discovered is that baby steps are my key to success. First off, let me explain what my goals are. This will help keep me accountable. It should be no surprise to any of you that I have a passion for helping people. I want to advocate for mental health; I want to teach people about body image, self-confidence, and especially kindness, because I used to lack all of the above. Except kindness, I would like to believe I’ve always been kind. I don’t feel like these things are discussed often enough.

Believe it or not, I am excited to speak in front of people. I want to help them get to a healthier place in their life. However, it scares the hell out of me. I want to make an impression on people, because I know what I’ve had to overcome to get to this place.

I’ve lived through something I never thought I could. I lost my dad, And it rocked my world.

But I made it through, even though there was many times I wanted to give up and I had zero drive or ambition. To make it through a day it took everything in me.

If you’ve never had depression or anxiety, or any other sort of mental illness, you’re very lucky, for I think that there are more people faced with this than they choose to admit. I want to change that.

Stepping out from a shadow

I want to empower people to believe in themselves and realize that in order to start overcoming some of those demons, you must start with yourself. For me, a journey of personal growth has been the most beneficial part of my life. Starting with learning how to appreciate who I am, learning how to get rid of negative energy in my life and learning how to stop giving a shit about what other people thought of me. Of course I say that with the utmost respect, but truthfully, if more people just stopped worrying about what everyone else thought about them, then I’m sure their own image of themselves would become much brighter.

Once you step out from behind the shadow of other people’s opinions, it’s amazing how bright your days will become. Giving people that power over you is like adding more weights into the backpack that you’re carrying around every day. It weighs you down, tires you out and drains your energy. This is Part One of the things that I want to help people understand.

This will be a process, and at this point I’m unsure what people’s responses will be. But I’m certain it will reach at least one person. That’s a victory.

One small step for me, one giant leap towards my goal ?

So far I’ve survived 100% of my worst days, you can too ?

Reproduced with permission, originally posted on jessharvey31