There are times in everyone’s lives when they feel inadequate and just not enough. They may feel as if their brain is broken. What do I mean by that? I can only tell you what I have felt in my own experience.

There have been countless times in my life when I’ve asked myself what was wrong with me. I’ve had struggles with my Bipolar Disorder, depression, suicidal thoughts… like many people have had in their own lives. These struggles often get in the way of my rational thinking. I start to think there’s something wrong with my brain. Sure, there’s a chemical imbalance there that, in itself, is something to most likely need correcting and it absolutely does not mean I am lesser of a person or “wrong”.

I feel like I’m not good enough when I start to get down on myself about who I am and what I’m feeling. Other people have criticized and bullied me when I’ve only ever was being myself. I let these hurtful comments get to me. It only reinforces my unfounded belief that I’m broken.

It’s difficult separating my self-criticism from the truth. My negative thoughts are so heavy that they blind my ability to see anything but. It makes my brain cloudy and, most times, takes away any self-confidence I might have had otherwise.

There’s a silver lining here, though, because what I’ve learned from these experiences is self-compassion. I’ve learned to be gentle with myself during these times of struggle. And, what I’ve come to know, too, is that what other people may think of me is none of my business.

My brain is not broken. I’m not broken. I can take a step back and take a look at what my truth is whenever I begin to believe that. My reality is this:

I will have days of feeling inadequate. I will have days when I feel broken. I will have days of feeling hurt by other’s criticisms.

People feel these things; it’s part of being human. Feelings aren’t facts. My feelings, which are completely valid and meant to be felt, still are sometimes not reality.

In reality, we all have worth. We all deserve self-compassion and gentleness towards ourselves. We all go through struggle. We don’t have to let those struggles define who we are as human beings. Inadequacy and feelings of being “less than” are illusions of the mind. Our mind is not our friend. It will trick you into believing you’re broken.

You. Are. Not. Broken.

And you’re not alone.

Sending love and light, Kel.