Hello guys! How have you been? I had an emotionally stressful week but I’m thankful to God for strength and the emotional support he gave me in the form of a human. Last week I learnt that God wants to help take off my burden and so I need to get out of the way and let Him do His thing. I need to stop trying to do it all on my own because really, I’m nothing without God. You should try it too. 

“Positive thoughts Blessing”. I heard that too much this past week and I tried so hard to switch into only thinking about good things.

God has plans for you and sometimes you need to just give Him space to work. Like I said  in my last post, God’s thoughts are not yours.

Enough of that, let’s get into this week’s discussion. I’ve talked about this a bit before and it’s a topic I find very interesting. It’s also a very sensitive topic for me. Mental health generally isn’t really taken seriously in this part of the world. I keep emphasizing on doing things that are good for your mental health because I’ve been in a bad place mentally severally and it’s not pretty. The crazy part is that being mentally “ill” or down isn’t like having a fever that one can easily tell by feeling your temperature (you know the way we do it now🤡). Even the affected person might think he or she is just sad. People around might not be able to tell and it might even cause them to misinterpret the affected party. A lot of people aren’t aware of how crucial this matter is to every member of the community. I keep telling people that see mental illness as being weak that everyone’s strength is different. You might be tough enough to take the pain of heartbreak, but someone who cuts themself because of the same reason isn’t stupid.

Again, there just isn’t enough awareness and it’s sad. Depression is very real and a lot of people have been consumed by it. You never know exactly what people are going through so don’t be judgy. Stating that they have something or look a certain way and so automatically they should be fine isn’t needed. They know they have those things so don’t make things worse.  This and the fact that people act so shocked (which is as a result of ignorance) when they hear that someone was so depressed they attempted (or committed) suicide pisses me off. There are always signs. We just choose to ignore them. I’ve heard people say that being depressed or attempting suicide means that you’re not a good Christian or Muslim. I personally don’t think you can just “pray” depression away. You can pray for God’s divine joy but it won’t come like magic. In church on Sunday, a woman shared a testimony that piqued my interest. She said she was grateful to God that people won’t be remembering her house as the place where someone attempted suicide. The part that “offed” me was when she said the guy was a graduate and people shouted. Like being a graduate equals sanity. I am a graduate and I can tell you that being a graduate in Nigeria isn’t beans. A lot of african parents don’t understand that their children can get depressed. They don’t understand that raising your voice at me because I’ve been in bed all day won’t miraculously make me happy. I don’t know the full story behind the woman’s testimony but it’s just typical of the older generation to ignore mental health. I’ve literally told an adult that I wanted to die cos I was so tired and they did nothing. 

If you’re struggling with anything or just life in general, you’re not alone. I might not know exactly what you’re going through but you’ve got a cheerleader here. Keep going cos you’ll definitely see light on your path. God’s got you. Don’t stop asking him to walk with you.

Ps: You should subscribe yunno

And I’ve got merch! I mentioned it a few times before but just in case. You can send me a message to get a custom tee (The African Bee 🐝). Right now it’s 3000 naira.