"I will be okay."

by Amy Welborn, Age 18

I always felt that from the “jumpstart of life” I was destined to be behind. At the ages where I was most vulnerable and susceptible to adults around me, they failed. They seemed to neglect their imprint of trauma and pain that would cause suffering and sorrow for years to come in my teenage years. Imagine, a twelve-year-old girl trying to convince herself that her sadness is only temporary to the situation she’s been placed in.

“It’ll go away. I’ll feel happier when I’m older. I’m okay. This is how life is.”

One situation turns into several. Slowly, before the little girl can comprehend, mental illness is debilitating and captivating years of her life. The walls around her heart began being constructed to hopefully protect the innocence and love hidden behind it.

That little girl is eighteen now. I ask myself, “Where has the time gone?” I reflect, and I realize my years of being a “little girl” were stolen. I had a mind processing things way beyond my years; hidden in the body of a kid. I am now creating the childhood I was never given. I am healing from things that were not my fault. I am learning the lessons I never learned as a little girl. Mental illness will forever be apart of my life, but it does not define my life. Depression, anxiety, and PTSD do not define me. I have learned everything in my life may not be okay, but it will be okay. Today’s struggle is a future accomplishment. I will be okay.

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Congratulations to Amy for being selected as a FINALIST in the 2022 Share Your Story Multimedia Contest!