Why You Matter

Hey guys, I hope everyone is well! Unfortunately I haven't been doing too well lately. I feel like this is the worst I've been feeling mentally since a long time and I feel like I'm stuck in a cycle that just won't stop. I've been struggling to sleep and have been overworking myself to a point where it's affecting my physical health. I have had breakdowns nearly everyday for the past week and a bit and honestly, I have just been feeling worthless. I thought I'd write about this topic because I recently watched a TEDx talk by Matt Emerzian and it's called 'You Matter'. It really inspired me and changed my way of thinking. It impacted me so much that I knew I had to share it with you guys, even though my blog isn't really that big.

We wake up each morning and ask ourselves what our purpose is. What we need to achieve in life, what we need to do to be acknowledged or what we need to do in order to belong. We essentially do things each day to prove we matter in this world. The reality is, you matter. You matter to your friends, your family, your classmates/coworkers. You matter. We often struggle in life to focus on what's in our hearts and what our impact really is in the world and we try to go out and look for external validation by asking the above questions to ourselves.

I don't know why I suddenly started feeling so meaningless in the world but after watching this talk, I realised that I keep seeking for validation through things outside that don't actually define me. Things like whether I can do all my homework on time, getting top grades in school, being the best lacrosse goalkeeper, being the most flexible dancer but sometimes I forget the smaller things I subconsciously do which mark my place in this world. 

The main action which got me thinking like this is the elderly home that is on the end of my road. Every morning I pass by that home when I'm walking to the bus stop and there is always this one man, sometimes accompanied with his friends, who all have down syndrome. The first time I saw them, they waved at me, so I waved back. Words cannot even describe how happy they were that I took a few seconds out of my day to smile and wave back at them. It hit me that something so simple for me which barely takes a few seconds for me to do really influenced how someone else felt and really made their day. Each morning, my sister and I always wave to them, not because we feel obliged to, not because we want to get some sort of award or something but for the sole reason of bringing joy into someone's life. You never know what they may be going through and being kind costs nothing so this is also a small nudge to you guys to just be kind. 

It wasn't the action of waving to them that told me I mattered in this world. It was when I got on the coach and told one of my friends and she responded with 'I wonder what they'll do when you go off to uni in just over a year'. In that moment, it really reminded me that I mattered to those people. If something as small as waving to them each morning made me matter in their life, imagine all the big things you've done for yourself that make you matter in this world.

Each morning you get out of bed, you get through the day and go to sleep. Then this cycle repeats again and again. I can understand why it's so easy for people to spiral into an unhappy mindset because society never tells us that simply surviving matters. Living is hard. We face a lot of obstacles and if you're reading this, congratulations because you've made it through 100% of your bad days. For the people who aren't able to make it, it isn't because they were weak, it's because sometimes, we forget to and/or are conditioned to not show ourselves love. If someone shows themselves love, they are seen as vain or narcissistic and we as a society really need to change that. 

We need to normalise showing love to ourselves. We need to normalise taking breaks. We need to normalise treating our mental health like our physical health. We need to normalise being kind to the world. The only way to change society is starting with yourself. Remind yourself each morning you matter because you do. You have made an insane impact to this world. You matter because you make people happy. You matter because the world wouldn't be able to run without you. You matter because you simply do. Not because you're an amazing person who cares about others or shows kindness to the world. You matter because you're you and there is no other you. Only you can be you and that's why you matter.

I hope you enjoyed this week's post! I normally don't promote my blog that much because I strongly believe that people will be guided to it at the right time in their lives but if you think of someone who needs to hear this message then please do share it with them and remind them how much they matter to you. We live in a world that is constantly moving and sometimes we just need to stop for a bit, take a break, take some deeps breaths and remind ourselves that we deserve the world and the world deserves us. See you next week, love you guys <33

ps: here is the link to the TED talk I saw if anyone's interested!!