Celebrate You: it’s Ok to be Happy

I think one of the hardest parts of the mental health journey is the ability to accept and celebrate your internal happiness. What goals have you met? Did you make any promises to your self this week? Can you find happiness in others’ joy when you don’t feel your best? What are 3 things you love about your life right now? Can you just choose to believe you are on the right path to mental freedom?

Choosing to celebrate YOU can be tough. The thought of embarrassment, shame, shyness, what will people think when you share yourself? Well it’s time to take a leap of faith. You can sulk in the unknowns of your dark mind while others are begging to understand. You have to set yourself free from self ridicule and in to the light of acceptance or you’ll never give yourself a chance of moving forward.

I hope this website stands as my leap of faith. I’m still a little embarrassed or nervous about the reactions, but in days it’s been overwhelming support. People I didn’t even know are reaching out to say it was “brave”, “encouraging”, and so much more. I can now choose to tell myself the same thing. I helped someone. I can make a difference to my own mind but also to others. I took a step forward.

For that one initial post, I thank myself.

This is one step that I fought to take for so long. I kept it all in and to myself. I would never let anyone else know that I was proud of making a small improvement, nor would I ever explain the pain behind it. I lived in my own paradigm of light and dark. Today I’m one step closer to getting on the path to inner joy.

In this process I also learned to celebrate the joys of others too. To use their happiness not as a “poor me, I wish that was me” moment, but to apply their method or achievement as a goal of my own. Promotions, fitness goals, life changes, birthdays, etc. Learning to be happy for others in time of uncertainty can prep your thoughts on how others will be happy for you, and then how you can be happy for yourself.

So, start with the inside voice through self acknowledgment. Even on a bad day you lokely achieved something good that you won’t tell yourself. You woke up, you got ready, you read your kids a book, you did something! It’s ok to be happy!