Hitting Rock Bottom

I started writing this post 3 days ago & since then, my life has continued to turn upside down too many times to count.

So many of us are having tough times, especially as we approach the holidays. I share my journey to shine the light on the conversation about depression and challenging times, none of us have to go thru this alone.

Friday night, I hit rock bottom.

I felt numb, lost & overwhelmed. I felt I couldn’t do anything right.

I sat there on the floor in tears, feeling hopeless for the first time in my life. I called the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline & had a 2-hour conversation with one of the Online Counselors via chat, as I’d been crying so hard I didn’t think I’d be able to talk.

It was just the right resource for me at the time, as I felt heard & was able to get everything off my chest.

There is another twist to this story....none of this is taking place in the quiet surroundings of a home, as right now I don’t have one; right now, I am homeless. I have been bouncing around from couches to hostels to hotels to airports for the past 3 weeks. A situation only made that much harder with Covid & my not owning a car right now.

Why do all this? Because I fight for what I believe in. Just as I did with DADT in the USCG, and for empowering people to see their own greatness now. WE can do hard things!

You are probably thinking, what does the Thoreau quote have any time to do with any of this?

I believe that our greatest lessons come out of our most significant challenges.

Getting lost, or in my case, hitting rock bottom Friday night was a gift. It’s allowing me to honestly look at my life with fresh eyes & see what is no longer serving me on my journey. Along with seeing how I can do things differently. There are so many lessons to keep learning as I grow. While also knowing everything is happening for me!

So in wrapping this up, I’m going to ask you to do something today....check on a friend & ask them, “How are you?” Just because someone posts a picture of themselves smiling or juggling on a beach doesn’t mean that they aren’t having their own challenges & couldn’t use a friend saying hi.

NOTE: Here is the link to the original Instagram Post