Often, you’ll hear people tell parents that they “need a village”. The concept of a village around a new set of parents is that they can have as much support as necessary to help them raise their child. The problem is that, along the way somewhere, people forgot that those children turn into adults.
Ideally, they turn into happy, balanced and fully-functioning adults that are whole and feel confident. Once those children raised by their village get to adulthood, they’re often left to fend for themselves.
You need a village. Parents need the village to help them to watch their children as they grow, but those same children don’t stop needing people around them just because they grew up. The village has changed, but you still need them.
You need to know that you have a support system like The HCC watching your back when things get stressful. Whatever stage we are in during life, we need to know that we’re not alone, not going to go through things alone. Whether we are children who cannot protect ourselves, teenagers who feel pushed aside or adults who can’t see the path ahead – we need a village — knowing that someone somewhere has noticed and cares about us? Yeah, we need that.
If you need any evidence as to where your village has gone, look at your life right now. Look at your mental health. Look at who you have in your inner circle. Who is there for you when the proverbial hits the fan? Who can catch you when you stumble, before you hit rock bottom?
If you have people around you, then you’re ahead of nearly everyone else around you. When we stick together and give each other the village we need, we’re stronger. We’re better. We have fewer issues with our mental health. We eat better, we laugh harder, and we generally feel more confident. We need more compassion, more empathy and more community around us – and it’s up to us to provide that for each other.
Don’t wait around until there is a village; seek it out. Find a community of people to embed yourself within; whether that’s school or friends or a church group. If you don’t have a village around you, then you need to start one and make it your own. Build a village that looks out for each other, that supports each other. That gives you the safety net you need when your mental health feels like it’s on a slide toward oblivion.
Perhaps we will be more responsible for each other. Maybe you’ll behave more responsibly around others and find that you can build up respect for each other. Maybe your world will become a kinder and more compassionate place to be. Maybe. Perhaps a village is exactly what you need to help raise you to the highest of heights, to offload your emotional weight somewhere safe. We adults still need people to help – so it’s time to ask for it.
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