You Are Not Alone: A Storm-Survivor’s Letter for Men’s Mental Health Month

June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month—and I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t planning to write a blog today. But then I looked at everything I’ve built, everything I’m carrying, and the image I made that just says it plain:

YOU ARE SEEN. YOU ARE HEARD. YOU ARE VALUED.

And suddenly, I had to write this.

Because even when we say those words to others, we forget to whisper them to ourselves.

Let me tell you something about storms.
- They don’t ask permission.
- They don’t check your calendar or your capacity.
- They show up. Loud. Rude. Relentless.

And when you’re a man—or seen as one—the world often teaches you to just brace yourself and keep moving. Don’t talk about it. Don’t cry. Don’t sit too long with it. Smile and nod. Be strong. Get back to work.

But strength isn’t silence.
Strength isn’t masking.
Strength isn’t pretending you’re fine just because people expect you to be.

Running multiple businesses, trying to grow something from nothing, staring down spreadsheets while fighting the weight of zero income… it’s a lonely kind of battle. And guess what? That’s still a fight people expect you to smile through.

Even on the days where all I want is to pause—to not carry it all—I hear that old voice in my head: “Be grateful. Could be worse. Others have it harder.” And yeah, maybe they do. But that doesn’t make this any lighter.

That’s the lie of the storm.
It tries to convince you that struggling means you’ve failed.
That if things aren’t good, you aren’t good.

But here’s what I’ve learned:
- You don’t have to escape the storm. You have to experience it.
- You have to stop searching for the next burst of good to validate your worth.
- You have to stop surviving just for the highlight reel and instead learn to breathe through the messy middle.

Because that—the messy, ugly, “I’m barely hanging on” part—that’s where the real growth is. That’s where you learn how to rebuild.

That’s where resilience isn’t romantic—it’s just real.

So to the men out there carrying silent battles:

I see you.
I am you.
And I’m telling you right now, from one tired soul to another:

You don’t have to do more to be enough.
You don’t have to suffer in silence to be strong.
And you damn sure don’t have to smile while breaking.

You are not weak for struggling.
You are not alone for feeling lost.
You are not invisible.

And if no one’s said it to you today: I’m proud of you for still being here. For trying. For waking up. For showing up. Even when it’s messy. Even when it’s ugly.

Because storms don’t last forever.
But the lessons they leave behind?
That’s how we grow.

If you made it this far, thank you.
If you're feeling heavy, I’m with you.
If you need a reminder…

YOU ARE SEEN. YOU ARE HEARD. YOU ARE VALUED. YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

🖤