Dear Samy:

Your thoughtful message has actually helped me so much, I can relate to your situation and I know how it feels. This connection you allowed me to have through empathy feels like I have been heard for the first time. I set up myself for failure through my negativity and that makes me think about other people letting me down.

You have carefully crafted a plan for me to get better just by reading my plea for help, I am deeply thankful and I will follow them to get better. I hope you feel better too, I’m sure you already do a great job and I would love to continue this line of communication.

Dear Anita:

I appreciate your take on this situation, I am trying to think about lies people have told me but nothing comes to mind, perhaps the idea I had about my parents not supporting me enough or forcing me to work at such a young age to take care of our family is what is hurting. Not a lie, but a betrayal to everything I wanted to be. That actually makes a lot of sense. See, I wanted to have a different career and I was a promising student, now I feel stuck and angry but I don’t know how to let go of those feelings.

Thanks for replying!

Dear Sami:

I love your take, I think you’re absolutely right and it just clicks for me.

I feel like the hole absorbs everything: good or bad, I feel like I am but a fragment of who I was and those good feelings I used to have are gone. I feel like it stems from my very core: my back, my hips, my throat hurts from all this suppressing. I would love to be free from my own mind, my insecurities, my low-self esteem. I wish I could just feel full and happy again. I am aware I’m missing something but I don’t even know where to start. I think that I became aware of  this problem this year because I am afraid of not being enough for my students and not being up to standards. I somehow can’t seem to feel enough.

I appreciate your insight! Thanks for helping me through this.