The one common goal we all share is the pursuit of happiness. It's easy to get caught up in the need to be perfect all of the time and neglect our mental health. Luckily, the stigma around that is lifting. Devout Celuí customer, Lin Salas, opens up about her realization that therapy was the missing link in her chain. One can only be as beautiful as they believe they are. Take it from us, Linda, you're an absolute GEM. Keep doing the work.

 

"When all free time is spent in the gym or at a desk, what I sacrificed were the things that made me feel the most myself."

 

Growing up in a culture where embracing one's feelings and asking for help was an unspoken symbol of weakness, I became conditioned to mask any negative feeling behind a veneer of politeness. The thing that they don't tell you about carrying burdens on your own for so long is that no matter how strong you believe yourself to be, the weight that only grows heavier is unsustainable for one person to bear. The stigma behind the topic of mental health has always been present in Asian culture. It took me 28 years to finally prioritize it and strive for a more holistic approach when considering my well-being. The reason I decided to commit to this process can be simply summarized—I want to understand myself better in the pursuit of my holistic growth as my commitment to myself as a lifelong learner.

 In the past six years since I graduated from college, I have been launched into a seemingly non-stop marathon of pouring every ounce of energy into my career and my physical health. What centered me was my relationships with others, ambition, and watching myself grow stronger physically. Society will tell you that this mindset is ideal, and in a way, they're not wrong. There are definitely worse things one can revolve their life around. However, when you're centered around pouring into your relationships, sometimes, if you're not careful, what gets neglected is your relationship with yourself.

When all free time is spent in the gym or at a desk, what I sacrificed were the things that made me feel the most myself. When the topic of therapy came up, I would always use the simple excuse, "I don't have time." What I was really saying was, "I am not willing to make the time." The hard truth is that we all have time to do whatever we choose. It's simply a matter of what we value enough to devote our time and energy to.

If I can wake up at 5 AM and spend two hours on my physical health every morning, why did I deem it such an impossible task to devote even an hour a week to my mental health? The more I started to ask these questions, the more research I did on mental health resources in my area. Being encouraged by friends who have had positive experiences was the extra push I needed to take me from online therapy to looking for someone who was the right fit in person.

When I knew I would be sharing my own mental health journey, I questioned my credibility because I'm still taking the first steps. I realized that most of my friends and family are in the same place, just beginning to explore and become curious about getting to know themselves more deeply. To me, that's what it's all about.