This week for #WarriorWednesday, we’re sharing a post from Kevin Hyland about his mental health journey through the pandemic.
This is not easy for me so please bear with me, but I feel like I need to open up.
The last 3 months I’ve been staying out at my farm house in Indiana. It has given me time to get away and reflect for a little bit. Allowing me to get in touch again with my inner self. Sometimes we need to take a step back in order to reassess, so that we are able to take steps forward.
I’m happy that the last 12 months are behind me. Honestly, it has been the toughest year of my entire life.
Little did I know, that with all of the hardships that happened this past year in 2020, that the biggest battle I would face would be between me and the man I see in the mirror.
You see, I had high hopes for 2020 this exact time last year. I had big plans. I was excited for my future. Things were looking bright and I was looking forward to an awesome year. Sadly, I was completely oblivious to the fall from grace that shortly lied ahead. A few weeks after the pandemic hit, my mental health went to absolute shit. I strayed away from the man I was meant to be. I lost my way. I lost my drive, my determination to succeed, my integrity. The ramifications would go on to cost me my engagement and later on my happiness. It felt like everything around me was crashing down. I was embarrassed. People would look at me differently. It was honestly hard to show my face anywhere without hearing whispers behind my back. Then there was an epiphany not too long ago, where I looked around inside my house, and it was almost damn near empty. I took a seat on my dining room floor. That exciting future, those high hopes and expectations…all changed in an instant. I felt defeated. I sat there and meditated for hours and pondered my current circumstance. Something’s got to give. My back was against the wall. Where do I go from here?
I keep telling myself that eventually at some point in life, we will fall. You will experience set backs. But I believe everything happens for a reason. And Just like an arrow is pulled back before it shoots forward, I truly believe with every fiber of my being, at 28 years old, that that’s where I’m at in my life today. I am destined for great things.