One in 8.3 Billion

Drew Douglass

Drew Douglass

— 2 min read
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Countless tiny lights in an indigo watercolor sky, one a little warmer near the center, among the rest.

Today is World Mental Health Day. It's something that's very near and dear to me, and I'm sure near and dear to so many people here.

I'm sure we've all seen the posts today with the common quotes: you're not alone, crisis numbers, people to talk to, you are enough. And that's absolutely true. Those are all super helpful and necessary, and it makes me so happy to see them.

But today I just want to take a second and encourage you to pause for a moment and just breathe. Even if it's for half a second or 10 minutes. I have an app you can use if you'd like to do that. There are no strings attached here. I have no book to sell. There's no way to purchase anything. You can't even purchase the app if you tried.

Often, I get so caught up in all of my challenges day to day, and I'm sure so many of you do too, that it's easy to forget to just stop, even for five minutes, and breathe, and be compassionate with yourself. So I would invite you to do so.

And then I would share this. If you're going through a rough time (which I have been recently, and I'm luckily coming out of it), hearing "you are not alone" is sometimes not super effective. Speaking from my own experience.

But something that's helped me a lot: I did a quick Google search, and there are about 8.3 billion people in this world. So I like to think, and I think the math would agree with me, that there's almost certainly someone out there in my exact situation, or near my exact situation, going through nearly the exact same thing.

And when it's really, really hard, I try to just pause, breathe, and think about whoever that person may be. I send them some compassion. And then I try to send myself some compassion.

So may you have a peaceful day. May you be compassionate, and give yourself a light pause today.

I'll leave the link to the app at the bottom, and a crisis line again, just in case, because they're there for everyone, not just for emergencies.

Wishing any and all readers, all five of you, the absolute best.

--Drew 🪷

Pause & Breathe.

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US): call or text 988, or chat at chat.988lifeline.org. Free, 24/7, and they're there for everyone, not just for emergencies.

Outside the US: findahelpline.com lists free helplines in over 175 countries.

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