Please donât hurt yourself today.
I wanted to write this letter for quite a long time now as I know that some of you struggle with self-harm and thatâs not something I want to be aware of and simply ignore. You deserve better than that.
And yet I struggle to find the right words to write to you. Words that comfort you, words that take away your pain, words that give you hope. Because that is what you deserve.
Yes, I could easily write a letter full of overused phrases. I could tell you that âself-harm wonât solve any problemsâ - but I know that you already know that. You donât really believe that itâll fix anything and I donât want to belittle you by acting as if a âSelf-harm doesnât fix your problemsâ would really be breaking news to you.
I could throw some generalized positivity in, like âAll of you are beautiful and lovedâ, but I know that, especially when you struggle with low confidence or mental health issues, it is too easy to read that, nod and think âYes, everyone but meâ.
You and me, we both know there is no magic sentence I could tell you that would guarantee that you stop harming yourself. If there was such a thing, it would probably get thrown into every single booklet, article and tumblr post about self-harm - and would lose its magic by overuse.
That magic, that little spark that will make you say âI will not hurt myself todayâ - one day at a time - that will never come from me. That will come from you. And I know I can say will rather than would here. Because just as I fully know how hard it is, I fully know how strong you are. I know that youâre alive while you read this and that means you made it to this day - dragged yourself to this day, maybe, with bruises and a broken heart but you made it. You survived.
And when I know that you survived every battle you faced so far, every single hardship life threw at you, then it really doesnât need much positive thinking to believe in you.
Please donât hurt yourself today.
blakekathryn
snowghoul
ellievsbear
tangentwithtanner
yousharknotpass
