#YouthMentalHealthDay - The girl who is always okay

By Doreen Bushoke

There is a girl who is always okay.

At least, that's what everyone thinks.

Maybe because, in some ways, I am that girl.

She knows how to say I'm fine before anyone has finished asking. She knows how to meet

deadlines, show up for her friends, make her family proud, and keep going even when

something inside her feels heavy.

But what she doesn't always know is how to stop and ask:

What am I actually feeling?

Growing up as a girl can come with an invisible curriculum.

Be good.

Be strong.

Don't disappoint your family.

Don't be too emotional.

We learn how to study, behave, achieve and become someone. But somewhere along the

way, do we also learn how to take care of the person we're becoming?

I think of emotions as weather.

Some days are sunny. Some are cloudy. And some bring storms we cannot explain.

We are so used to asking Am I doing well? that we sometimes forget to ask:

Am I feeling well?

Emotional wellbeing doesn't mean being happy all the time. You can be ambitious and

overwhelmed. Strong and still need help. Grateful and tired.

Maybe strength is not always about enduring.

Maybe strength is saying, Something isn't right.

Maybe it's telling a friend, I don't need you to fix this. I just need you to listen.

Maybe it's asking for help.

Sometimes, caring for ourselves begins with something as simple as naming what we feel.

I am sad.

I am anxious.

I am overwhelmed.

I am lonely.

Naming a feeling may not make it disappear, but it gives us somewhere to begin.

This is why the Girl Rising Guide to Emotional Well-being matters to me. It gives girls a place

to begin understanding their emotions, finding healthy ways to cope, supporting friends, and

knowing when to ask for help.

Because we shouldn't have to wait until we are breaking down before we take our emotional

wellbeing seriously.

I keep thinking about that girl.

The one who is always okay.

Maybe she doesn't need another person telling her to be stronger.

Maybe she needs someone to sit beside her and say:

You don't have to be okay with me.

Maybe girls need permission to pause.

To feel.

To speak.

To rest.

To be human.

Because every girl deserves not only to learn how to face the world, but also how to come

home to herself.