Mental Health Awareness Month

Apparently it's Mental Health Awareness Month. Wish I'd know about that sooner.....

But I have to at least dedicate one post to this months cause, especially and obviously because it is very near and dear to my heart.

One song I have been loving lately is by Sia and it's called Alive. I know, I'm a couple of years behind. I'd never listened to this song until just a few weeks ago. It is AWESOME! I feel so empowered whenever I listen to it. It makes me feel strong and like I can take on the world! The lyrics are great too. I feel like Sia has some kind of connection to anxiety/depression. I get major "mental health issues" vibes from a lot of her songs. What I like about this one (and the reason I am dedicating it to Mental Health Awareness Month) is because it is song about being strong. It's about coming from a dark place ("I had a one-way ticket to a place where all the demons go....no hope, just lies and you're taught to cry into your pillow") and finding that you are stronger than your demons/challenges/problems ("I'm still breathing, I'm still breathing, I'M ALIVE!).

I was born in a thunderstorm
I grew up overnight
I played alone
I played on my own
I survived

Hey
I wanted everything I never had
Like the love that comes with light
I wore envy and I hated that
But I survived

I had a one-way ticket to a place where all the demons go
Where the wind don't change
And nothing in the ground can ever grow
No hope, just lies
And you're taught to cry in your pillow
But I survived

I'm still breathing 

I'm still breathing 

I'm still breathing 

I'm still breathing 
I'm alive!

I'm alive!

I'm alive!

I'm alive!

I found solace in the strangest place
Way in the back of my mind
I saw my life in a stranger's face
And it was mine

I had a one-way ticket to a place where all the demons go
Where the wind don't change
And nothing in the ground can ever grow
No hope, just lies
And you're taught to cry in your pillow

But I survived

I'm still breathing 

I'm still breathing 

I'm still breathing 

I'm still breathing 
I'm alive!

I'm alive!

I'm alive!

I'm alive!

You took it all, but I'm still breathing

You took it all, but I'm still breathing

You took it all, but I'm still breathing

You took it all, but I'm still breathing

You took it all, but I'm still breathing

You took it all, but I'm still breathing

You took it all, but I'm still breathing

You took it all, but I'm still breathing


I have made every single mistake
That you could ever possibly make
I took and I took and I took what you gave
But you never noticed that I was in pain
I knew what I wanted; I went out and got it
Did all the things that you said that I wouldn't
I told you that I would never be forgotten
And all in spite of you

And I'm still breathing
I'm still breathing
I'm still breathing
I'm still breathing
I'm alive! (You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
(You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
I'm alive! (You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
(You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
I'm ALIVE! (You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
(You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
I'm ALIVE!

I'm ALIVE!

I'm ALIVE!

I'm ALIVE!

I'm ALIVE!

I also want to give a shout out to this beautiful, uplifting faith-centered song. It's called Footsteps. Based on the poem, Footsteps in the Sand, it is a song about humbling ourselves and our need for divine help. To realize that even though there are times we feel alone and abandoned, we never can be and never have been. Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, atoned for us. He understands and loves us perfectly. He never has and never will leave us alone. He truly does carry us through our trials. He is always there, we just have to be humble enough to see Him and allow Him to help us. We must never abandon Him because He will never abandon us.

I've fallen through the floor again
Crashed into the basement
The pain was swallowing me
I was like a lead balloon
I couldn't even get up to turn
The lights on
The dark was swallowing me

Lord knows you can't trust your head
When you're standing on the edge
Of breaking down
Lord knows you can't trust your head
When you're hanging by a thread
I was breaking down

And I saw only two footprints in the sand
Thought you'd abandoned me and
Let go of my hand
But you were carrying me
Carrying me to safety
Two footprints, your footprints in the sand
Two footprints, two footprints, your footprints in the sand
Two footprints, your footprints in the sand

Oh, I forgot the things I knew
It was I who'd abandoned you
Forgive me, I was lost in doubt
Who would never've left my side
Picked me up when I thought I would die
You helped me, and I was found

Lord knows you can't trust your head
When you're standing on the edge
Of breaking down
Lord knows you can't trust your head
When you're hanging by a thread
I was breaking down

Only two footprints in the sand
Thought you'd abandoned me and
Let go of my hand
But you were carrying me
Carrying me to safety
Two footprints, your footprints in the sand

Only two footprints in the sand
Thought you'd abandoned me and
Let go of my hand
But you were carrying me
Carrying me to safety
Two footprints, your footprints in the sand

Two footprints, two footprints, your footprints in the sand
Two footprints, your footprints in the sand