For the last several months, my friend has been sending me text message pictures of her feet. Oddly enough, it’s the most beautiful and comforting message anyone could ever send a friend who is struggling with depression and anxiety.
“Look at your feet” is what she taught me to do when I begin to spiral out of control with my depression and anxiety. It’s easy to start dwelling on the past and it can be terribly scary to think of the future when you’re struggling. Once she taught me to “look at my feet,” it helped me calm down and just be in the present moment to gain control and find some form of peace.
Sometimes she will text me in the morning and gently remind me to “just get to breakfast,” and after that, “just get to lunch,” and so on. It helps me remember to stay in the present. She will text me pictures of her feet to show me how she too follows this same advice, which coincidentally always comes when I need it the most.
We both lost our brothers to suicide at different points in our life, and now we both struggle with depression and anxiety due to our tragic losses. I can talk to her about anything and I know she can talk to me about anything because we both get it and we both have extreme compassion for one another. We are both moms of two kids and we are both married. Depression can really take its toll on our family; but we both are each others biggest fans and are routing so strongly for each other to succeed in this life because we both know each others struggles with depression and anxiety after the loss of our very loved brothers. We live in different states and don’t get to see one another, but the simple act of a text message can be more profound than some of my daily interactions with others in person.
My wish is for anyone who struggles with depression and/or anxiety, to have a friend who text them pictures of their feet with the same sentiment.
By Karen Peloquin for TheMighty