Sometimes I hide what I’m thinking and feeling because I’m afraid that if I share the hard parts with people, they will worry about it too much. And they can’t do anything to fix it. And I’m better off just dealing with it myself.

But then when people share their struggles with me, it doesn’t usually feel like a burden. It helps them find relief, and it helps me too. It helps me feel connected, and not alone. I like helping in the small way I can.

Sometimes we don’t say the right things to each other. But it’s often better to say the wrong things than to not say anything at all because we’re afraid.

And so many times, our dark thoughts won’t go away properly unless we share them with someone else–we get it all out there, and realize how wrong we are, and how much we are loved, and we’re able to build each other up.