Why don't we take our own advice?

Even as a blogger for mental health, I know that I don't listen to myself all the time.

Editors note: this article explores a lived experience about mental health. Please be mindful if this is a difficult subject for you and if it raises any concerns please contact Counselling Support.

I wish more than anything that my friends would take my words to heart. I wish that they would hear my sincerity and try something I suggested to make their lives easier. I wish that I could be the cause for a shift in their wellbeing, and I know this is because I want to feel like I have something worthwhile to give.

As a blog writer, this is also what I hope for. I hope that people read this blog and can take something away from us bloggers' personal experiences and use it to help themselves. As much as I'd love to project this image that I have it all together, that I have the best tips around and that my life is perfect, this is just not the case.

In full disclosure, this year is the first time I'm tackling my challenges. For the last several years, they're something I've been passively living with. I've practically made changes to my life to accommodate for these challenges. It's not comfortable, but I've just been getting by with them silently under the surface. I toddle on like there's nothing really wrong to begin with, and it's easy to forget that they're still festering.

It wasn't until I became a blogger for mental health that I realised I needed help, too. It's been a multitude of referrals, appointments and phone calls all year. It's one thing after the other and I feel like I'm chasing something I can't reach. It's been frustrating when I have to wait for months before the next step to be able to take place. But I know what I want, and I know this is what I need to do. So, here I am.

Why don't we take our own advice? Is it a matter of self worth? Of time and energy we feel we don't have? Are we trying to prove to ourselves that we're so selfless we'd help others at the expense of our own wellbeing? It's a big question, but allowing yourself to sit with it could reveal something about yourself you never knew.