I welcome you to my blog. Over the years I have come to realize that everyone is actually fighting silent battles; some of these battles they don't even talk of, and some are faced with battles way beyond them, but the truth is that sometimes life will throw something you cannot carry alone, which is where asking for help becomes very important, as that way the load or burden becomes light as it is not carried by you alone and you now have the assistance of either family, friends, or loved ones. All that matters at that point is that the burden has been made lighter and easier for you to carry without draining you too much.
Despite how receiving help makes a burden light, some people have chosen to carry it all by themselves, and I cannot even blame them for that. We live in a world where sharing your problems or opening up about the situation you are in is either considered weakness and you are asked to be strong and shoulder your responsibility properly or it becomes the talk of the town; some even go as far as making a joke of a serious situation and expect you to laugh or take it lightly, and many people have realized they cannot deal with the stress that comes with opening up; instead, they opt into pretending to be okay.
You see them smiling and laughing really hard on the outside while they are breaking and crashing down on the inside; those laughing and smiling the most sometimes are the ones faced with the most problems and carrying the most burdens. Sometimes you think your problems are many until you meet people, and you then realize that yours are a lot smaller compared to those of others. Some people's only problem or burden is money for feeding, and then they feel like it is the end of the world, but then there are some people who are looking for money for house rent (shelter) and money for their medication, which if not taken will cause their health issues to be very complicated, and that same person or people don't even have what to eat.
I always hear a cousin say if we sit round a table and everybody is asked to drop their problem on the table and everyone round the table is asked to pick any problem they like, you will realize that many people will pick back theirs because they realize theirs is a lot less than that of others and they can handle it easily compared to that of others. I did not understand this saying until recently: You will think yours is worse until you hear another person's story.
The truth is that even those who you see from afar and assume are living a very happy life might be even sadder than you are or dealing with things worse than what you are dealing with; we all have a thing or two going on in our lives that bothers us, and nobody's life is completely problem-free. So if at any point you feel the need to ask for help, do not pretend to be okay; there will definitely be those you can trust, those who know when to joke and when not to joke, and those who will keep a secret secret and will help you avoid everything you fear about asking for help.
Pretending to be okay while crashing on the inside is what births depression; you smile and laugh outside, then go inside and shed tears throughout the night or while you are alone. It is only a matter of time before depression creeps in and, for some people, suicidal thoughts start to whisper in their ears. If you feel the load is too heavy for you to carry, look for someone you can trust and share the burden or load with them. Pretending to be okay does not mean you are in control of the situation.
