Sometimes I find in our world, like the invisible expectation of perfection, we think or maybe we subconsciously try to fit in the box. There is this narrow lane of what we should do in life, and we cannot deviate from that lane.
I have always been very awkward and weird, and I have always loved my awkwardness and weirdness. You may see my awkwardness as a fault or weakness, I see it as a strength and what makes me who I am.
The box is too restrictive for me. In High School and University, when everyone was worried about relationships and being cool, I was studying. I wanted to learn more about life and everything it encompassed. Maybe that was the strength of my awkwardness and weirdness. I always loved this about myself, that I never really fit into the box.
The box thinks that with mental illness there is a right way to do things or a few right ways do things. In my opinion, the box is right and the box is wrong. There are so many ways to figure things out and every single person will have a unique way to manage their illness and recovery.
There are many different opinions and theories on mental illness, recovery and even life. All could be right for some and maybe not right for others. The key is being open to possibilities. Be open to the possibility that different things work for different people and what works for one person may or may not work for another. We also need to be open to just listen. That is it. Listen. I find sometimes we go into mental illness or even life with what we think is right or wrong or our proven advice and some may be true and some may not be true, the point here is to simply listen. Hear what is being said and be open to so many amazing possibilities of how we can help.
Do not let the box define you, your recovery or your life. If you fit in the box that is fine and if you do not, that is fine too. And if you are somewhere in between, that is probably fine too. And maybe at one moment we are in the box and a few minutes later we are not. I guess the box is all how you see it and perceive it.
Just remember though, whether inside, outside, around or in between the box, everywhere you are, is maybe where you are supposed to be.
And one thing I should let you know, there is also a possibility that the box does not exist at all.
samantha mercanti 