Recently I have come to terms with the fact that I need to be just as I am. I do not need to cover up the fact that there is a reality that there are things about me that are just what they are. Regardless of what others think, I am the only one that must live the life that I must live and whether it is for the wanting or attention of others, the fact is that I must be mentally well to have the best quality of life that I desire, therefore I must accept myself as things are.

There has been a journey in the past six years of what that reality is and through the hard way I have figured out what exactly that is. It has been a hard thing to do, not only as living on my own, but as an autistic person that has other challenges. For the longest time, I had control of my mental wellbeing when in fact I did not. As a result, it made life more challenging for me than I allowed myself to believe, and it took until recently to understand and accept things as they are. Therefore, people that want to understand me as I too must accept it by myself.

I won’t lie, it was a challenge to accept what reality is and that there also needs to be some work done to work on combatting the issues that come with my challenges. They have been the issues that have long put aside but now must be tackled more honestly just as I want to do about my mental health treatment. For the longest time I wanted to believe things that I was reluctant to believe, such as putting in the hard work that needed to be done to combat the issues that come with my being autistic and having mental health challenges so I can work at living a better life. It can be hard to accept things as they are, but it too is a process that can be frustrating initially but being patient and having some grace has been continually more accepting.

There is part of us that want easy solutions to everything, but the reality is that we must be diligent of our well being at a time when mental health has been at the forefront of all disciplines of what is going on in the world and made more of a necessity in today’s culture. So as the rest of the world is making it easier to take the time to care for their mental health, I am no exception and as such should take the time to make caring for mine by using the services that are provided to me to their fullest potential.

Yes, when my mental health is cared for, there is a reality that things are not totally want they want to be. But that is a part of me, and I am the only one that needs to be happy with me. It is not up to anyone else to want me to do things to work at chipping away the work and treatments that I must take to ensure that my mental well-being is at the best that it is. I am the first person that must accept myself just as I am.