To all the dads;
The single dads striving to play the role of mum and dad.
The hard working dads who spend most of their time out at work, unable to spend as much time as they like with their family.
The dads who feel like they’re inadequately not doing as much as they should or want to.
The dads who are estranged from their child(ren) or have lost a child.
The men who want to be dads but haven’t yet had children.
To all men:
Don’t bottle it up: speak up.
With Father’s Day, just around the corner, I want to take a moment to reach out to not just dads but all the men out there that feel like they don’t know where to start when it comes to talking about what is going on in their lives.
Men so easily feel like talking about how they are feeling is somehow a shameful thing to do, like if they show how they are feeling that that in some way makes them less of a man.
That is not the case.
I, and I’m sure many others do too, respect a man more who truly feels and shows his true self.
By talking and speaking up when life is getting you down, it not only helps you but it helps teach our future generations that it’s okay to not be okay. It’s okay to need support. It’s okay to need help from time to time. It is not something to be ashamed of.
I see this first hand, on a daily basis, how a man in need can hide how they’re feeling, how they don’t want to burden their partners or family and it saddens me.
You can’t heal by bottling thoughts and feelings up inside.
To heal an emotion we have to first let ourselves feel an emotion.
If you feel that you don’t have a friend or family member or trusted person that you can talk to, reach out to a charity, contact your doctor/medical professional, call a helpline. Just please, speak up.
If you are really struggling to contact someone; start by writing it down. Get the words out. Sometimes just finding some way to unburden the heavy load can help to give a sense of release.
Too many men don’t speak up and it costs them their lives. It’s time to change that narrative.
Showing true vulnerability is not a weakness, it is a strength.
Showing true emotions is not a weakness, it is crucial for your overall well-being.
Please. Speak up.
The Ruminating Mum 