Behind the Smiles: The Importance of Mental Health and Kindness

“Work’s alright, but I’m exhausted.”

“Yeah, I get panic attacks quite frequently now.”

“It’s hard to be there for my family when I’m burned out.” 😔

#LondonWorldTour was eye-opening, but so were the conversations.

Some of my friends working the booths presented happy, smiley faces to potential clients, but I knew how they were actually feeling inside. 🙁

Because I asked them.

And I listened.

Many of us do the same thing.

We wake up and cannot face the day until we put on a mask to present to the world. 🎭

What we don’t realize is the toll and energy it extracts from us, leaving little for the other things in life that matter.

❤️️ Our self

❤️️ Our family

❤️️ Our relationships

❤️️ Our community

Someone came up to me and shared their appreciation for my posts about #ConsultingLife and #Samaritans.

“Have you ever thought about volunteering?”

(Yes, I know, I’m always hustling)

“I can’t pour from an empty cup. I’m feeling burned out.”

This is so true, and it needs to be talked about a lot more. #MentalHealth is not just a faddy buzzword.

We need to find a way to look after our jug so that we can pour our energy and soul into the things that really matter.

Start noticing. 👀

Take action. 🏋

Follow through and follow up. 💪

This applies on a micro level—between each other as human beings.

And at the macro level, from the team, the organization, the society, the world, down to us humans who make it all up.

If I were to strip down all the words in this post and summarize it into a hashtag, I’d go with:

#BeKind.

To each other.

And to ourselves.

The world needs more kindness.