Hey, You're Amazing!
I have suffered from depression and anxiety my whole life and until recently, I didn't know why. My childhood was rough. I was born to teen parents who didn't stay together long after I was born and my family, while I still tell myself had the best intentions, turned their focus away from the abusive situation my mother had brought the two of us into. I am 25-years-old and just 10 months ago, because of one small phrase and one good friend, I had the courage to get help. The day I mustered up the strength to go to a therapist was the day my friend handed me a card that read "Hey You're Amazing!" He told me that my random acts of kindness toward him (like a text telling him I appreciated him or missed him) helped him from pain and self-harm and asked me to join him in creating a community full of people just like us who just want to give recognition for the goodness in others. I realized then that I couldn't ask people to open up and receive help if I wasn't helping myself. I suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. When I mustered up the strength to go to a therapist and she diagnosed me with PTSD, I didn't believe it. Sure my early years weren't the best, but I am a functioning, successful member of society with a lot of friends and that's when it hit me. My whole life I had been told I was "raised by a village" and was so lucky to have turned out the way I did. I soon realized I had been the victim of living in an entire village of denial and had been lying to myself. The support I have received from my friends and the "Hey, You're Amazing!" community has given me the strength to receive help and to, in turn, get others the help they deserve. One small act; three simple words. That was all it took for me to turn my life around. If I can do that for others, I'd say it's all worth it in the end.