Why are we all struggling in secret?

I am struggling.

I used to think I wasn’t. Or I would ignore it. Or pretend like I wasn’t.

But that wasn’t real. I wasn’t being honest. With myself. Definitely not with others.

For the record, I strongly dislike this post. It’s forcing me to admit in a public place that I am struggling.

Why is it so hard to say that? I’m almost completely certain that every single person I know is struggling with something right now. All of us. It’s the way it is.

And yet we don’t talk about it.

As a society, we agreed that struggling is a sign of weakness, and therefore it’s not safe to admit. Or that talking about our struggle is a burden to someone else. So we struggle in secret. Which makes it worse. It creates shame. It removes any opportunity of receiving help. We multiply and magnify the struggle in our mind.

I’m going to attempt to normalize the struggle. At least in my own little world. As an experiment. I’m going to ask people openly what they are struggling with and start by sharing what’s there for me. Maybe I won’t dislike this topic so much next time I write about it.