HOW'S MY MENTAL YOU ASK?

How's my mental? Like usual it's a day to day. Some days are better than others. I found myself feeling more lonely at times than I have. Lonely in the sense that I'm literally by myself when I'm not at work or church. I'm know being introverted comes being alone at times, but there are times, I do miss being able to laugh with other people. On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I found out an old friend from high school passed away, and it really messed me up. It's like that line from the old movie Pollyanna where the preacher said over the pulpit, "Death comes unexpectedly." One of my oldest friends in life, lost both his parents, both of whom I was close with as well. Song writer said, "For you and me this life is not promised. Tomorrow may never show up." 

Anthony Clark Williams wrote a popular song that says, "God has not forgot." Tasha Cobbs said it like this, "You (God) still love me, in spite of me." There's a phrase that says, "God works in mysterious ways." I don't know if "mysterious" is the right word. I believe He knows what we need at the right time. Like as I'm typing this, I shared this post on my Facebook:

"I suffer from PTSD, Anxiety, and Depression and it's not a good place to be. Sometimes people don't believe me when I tell them. I struggle; It can be hard to live with me & to be around me when I get like this and I know it. I try my best to control it. I manage to get strong but sometimes I break. So if you see me very quiet, I'm not being rude, I'm not mad at you, you're not bothering me, I may just need a minute to myself.

It's okay to not be okay, tell someone you're not okay. (It's okay).

Hopefully, some friends will put this on their wall. You just have to copy..

Thank you

In Support Of Mental Health Awareness

The struggle is real……"

 I must say that I didn't write this. It was one of those copy and paste posts that I copied from someone else in support of mental health. The amount of love that post got was overwhelming. I put up that post before I went to work. I went into work, walking with my head up hoping for a good day. Day was going good. I was laughing with coworkers and making orders for the students. Until--I can't speak for anybody else, but speaking for me, it doesn't take much to trigger something dark for me. Somebody asked for a dessert, as I was putting the dessert on a plate, the dessert fell apart. They wanted another one, so I prepared to put the dessert on the same plate that the other fell apart. They didn't like that. Made it known. I put the dessert on a new plate. That was it. Seems pretty stupid huh? All of the sudden, tears are falling from my face for what felt like hours. Ironically, Joy To The World was playing in my head. I was told that my confidence needs to get stronger, and I do agree with that. However, when I'm open about my mental health, it seems to open a door for heavy emotions. So I don't really know what happened. All I know as I was trying to stop the tears from falling down my face, in my head, all I heard was My Testimony by Marvin Sapp. 

"So glad I made it, I made it through in spite of the storm and rain

Heartache and pain, still alive, declaring I made it through...I'm so glad I made it, so glad I made it

I made it through, I made it through"

Then part of Nobody Cared by Canton Jones.

"On outside of laughing and on the inside of crying

It seem so hard to go on

I can't see how you'll forgive me

Then I feel your presence and you essence

Then you say, hey it's gonna be ok"

So during some down time I was checking my phone and I got encouraged by the reaction and comments to the FB post. The comments were really encouraging, and really helped lift my spirits. I was praying as the tears was falling, "I just want to know that I'm loved." Seeing those reactions was just what I needed. To all who reacted and left a commented, if you're reading this, I hope you now know how much it all meant to me. I really appreciated. As the old saints say, "If you don't love me, keep fooling me." 

Of course this was not the road I wanted this particular blog to go, but hey, what are you going to do? I want to take this time to thanks my family, my pastor and wife, and all others who have helped me, and pray for me as I open up about my mental health. I also want to take this time to thank the students at Lander who help make my day go smoother. One Lander student in particular who is nicer to me than I believe I deserve. I don't even know if you'll ever read this, but if you do, just know I appreciate it. We'll do brunch one day, I don't know.

That's all I got for this one. Again, it went a completely different path than the subject I had planned. What was the subject I had planned? Well since you asked, it was about the fact that at my job, I can't pick and choose who to serve food to. My job is to provide the food not see what they got on or see what sin they committed first before I provide the service they came for. That was the topic, but of course, it didn't go that way. I may still talk about that in a later post, but then again, knowing the way my mind works---anyway, thanks for reading. If you feel led, please share this post. I share what I go through hoping that it will show others that they are not the only ones that feel a certain way. My goal if I can just reach one person, I feel like I've done my job.

Stay Saved and keep going, 

Daniel Richerson
Facebook.com/bigdusty

Twitter.com/d_rich864

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DON'T WAIT TILL IT'S TOO LATE

"For you and me this life is not promised. Tomorrow may never show up." - Mos Def, Umi Says, 1999

Like a lot of you I was taken back by the death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter, and my heart goes out to his family and to the families of the other lives that were taken. I found myself crying thinking about how life can end in just an instant. We take life for granted. We focus on trying to extend life besides just living for the moment. I understand getting healthy, and me myself I have to do much better with that. But if I focus on getting healthy and forget that I'm still angry at this or that person because of something petty, or I haven't been completely honest with this person and that person because of fear, then I'll just be healthy and miserable.

Please don't let another death come before you forgive. Don't let death come before you let your love ones that they are loved. Don't let another death come before you ask for help. My pastor said this today, "A closed mouth don't get fed." Stop hesitating. There's no progress in hesitation. Hesitation brings procrastination. Can't move forward and procrastinate at the same time believe me I've tried that for years and it hasn't worked yet. Matter of fact that is what I tried to do 10 years ago when I was supposed to have a "fresh start" and all I did was get a hair cut. You can get a a new hair cut and new clothes, but if your heart is still in the wrong place, it doesn't matter what you do on the outside. A makeover on the outside doesn't necessarily mean a makeover on the inside.

 

Hezekiah Walker put out a simple song years ago that says, "Won't He make you clean inside." The "He" is Jesus. The late Bishop G.E. Patterson preached, "Salvation is An Inside Job." There's an old song that says, "Get right church, and let's go home." It is written, "The day you hear my [Jesus] voice harden not your heart." John 9:4, "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."

Now I know that every after death, especially if it's a celebrity, everyone has a message. That's not what I'm trying to do. Truth is I've been wanting to post a new blog for some time now, I just couldn't get my words together. I didn't mean to type all this, I just wanted to get my thoughts out due to Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and the other people that were on the plane. Don't waste time in pettiness. Check on your people. Love on your people. If you got something to say, just say it. If you got something to do, then do it. 

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson