It’s not always easy to overcome the difficulties you’ve faced in your life. If you think back to the times you were feeling at your lowest, did you ever think you’d end up where you are today? Just like you felt back then, there are others currently going through the same thing who could benefit from what you’ve learned from your own experiences.
Overcoming your struggles is a huge achievement, and what better way to show how far you’ve come than to help others? Here are four ways you can use what you’ve learned to help others in the hope that they’ll end up where you are now someday.
1. Write about it
The internet is a fantastic place for finding information, and the first place that many people go to get advice from others. Blogging about your experiences and the things that you know can help others to feel inspired or comforted, while writing can also be a therapeutic way for you to process your thoughts and feelings. If putting yourself out there with a blog is a step too far, you could always join in forums and talk to people about what you’ve been through and how you’ve overcome – connecting you with people on a much smaller scale.
2. Raise awareness
This year’s World Mental Health Day seemed to spark a rise in the number of people talking openly and frankly about mental health issues – a welcome development that has been a fantastic way to get mental health issues talked about on a visible, global scale. Raising awareness for issues that have affected you is a great way to help others and perhaps encourage them to seek help for their problems. Sharing your experiences with others can help in more ways than you know, so if you feel confident enough to speak up – get talking. Whether you do so in private or publically, it doesn’t matter – what matters is that you’re doing your bit to raise awareness of something that is close to your heart.
3. Go down the professional route
Helping others to overcome their issues could help you find your calling, or even lead to a change in career. Your desire to help others could easily lead to becoming a counselor or mental health worker, giving you the chance to give back and help those in need. The fact that you’ve been there yourself will make you a great person to talk to and offer support to others. The increase in distant learning opportunities means you can pursue online courses in mental health counseling in your own time, allowing you to fit your studies around work and your free time.
Whatever the issues you’ve been through in your life, someone out there is likely to be going through the same thing. With so many people feeling lost or lonely because of the struggles they’re facing, you can do a lot of good by sharing your experiences to help others. No effort is too small, and even just one conversation could completely change a person’s life.
