Where can you recognise how brave you’ve been this week?

When my kids were growing up I didn’t have a lot of spare time for sitting with them in their emotions. I had 3 kids on the spectrum, only 2 diagnosed, I wasn’t diagnosed as yet, and just keeping 4 different people in a manageable order was a challenge, before the mental health challenges came along too.

Today, I was brave. I stopped and spent time with my daughter and how she felt, instead of having to try and fix everything, instead of researching and finding answers like I normally would do. We were together and we talked about the process to come for diagnosis with her unnamed, as yet, health challenge. I affirmed that no matter what we’re going through this together.

I was brave and sat talking with my youngest through his mental health challenges. I was vulnerable about how I felt too. We didn’t hold anything back either, we’re brutally honest about how challenging it is for him and for me as well. He’s been dealing with suicidal thoughts since 16 and we just know together we’ll make it through the other side.

Why are these two things brave? When we’ve never been raised to talk about emotions, never known how to manage these conversations, it takes a lot of courage to have them. The outcomes can be unknown and stop us from attempting to have them. Courage is developed the more often we’re prepared to have these conversations and experience that none of us walks away from the challenges.

There’s nothing easy about life. There sure is a lot of love, joy, peace and patience to be shared, memories made in being there for each other, being each other’s greatest cheer squad and knowing that no matter what none of us gives up on each other, ever. We are the first generation to begin the change for many that come after us.

Let’s be brave and begin to have tough conversations. Conversations that none of us thought we’d ever have to have. Let’s be brave and create connections through the hard times. That’s where genuine love is experienced, life’s challenges. quotes1