There are so many days now that celebrate so many things that I feel bombarded with all these excuses to buy this thing or have that other thing. A lot of it is mostly marketing drivel, driving more sales to one or the other. However today apparently is World Mental Health Day, and that is something I can definitely find cause to ger behind.

It’s very important to take your mental health seriously. Some people like to brush away anything that they can’t attribute to a physical issue, and that is something we should not brush aside anymore. Suicide rates are going up. What used to be an every ten or 25 year thing of reunions, are now an everyday comparison of how your life stacks up to others in your circles. Social media is kicking up awareness that we might be better off not knowing because they stress us out to getting more or less, or thinking we’ll never stack up.

I’ve had to take myself quite seriously this year. Things happened and my life could no longer be ignored or swept under the rug. Circumstances were forced for me to reevaluate what’s important and for me, and with very thinly veiled suggestions, to talk to someone outside my circle professionally.

It helped. If not to hear their understanding of (what obviously is just my side of the conversation) and what it means to move forward, getting the a-ok from a professional that my life is nothing to sneer at. That even in the lows I still have more to be thankful for than I realized. I couldn’t have gotten there surely using my conventional methods, and believing it took a while, but the steps I took to be there, ultimately, saved me.

So do yourself a favor and reevaluate. Put your mental health as a priority. Don’t just say that it will pass and take yourself out of your list of things to take care of.

Because if you don’t take care of yourself, who will?