R U OK Day is an incredibly impactful day of awareness.
I love all that it is about and think it is immensely important to incorporate it into our everyday interactions.
It’s not just about painting everything yellow, tossing around glossy jargon, photo opportunities for
Instagram with the fancy hashtags, and having pretty cupcakes on the menu for morning tea.
Tuning in to our own and other people’s emotions shouldn’t just be embraced on one day every year either.
It is about showing up for each other every singe day.
Showing empathy and kindness in our daily encounters, being mindful of the fact that everyone is
going through something we know nothing about, and adjusting how we engage with diverse communities to strengthen our level of respect and sensitivity.
R U OK Day is a brilliant opportunity to bring people together, to begin tough conversations, and break stigmas.
However, the values and all it stands for should not be packed up and put away with the cupcake stand at the end of every September 14.
When all the yellow decorations come down is the moment to really step up and carry the meaning of the day over into the next and continue the cycle to make the world a better place.
It has been a tough few years, too many people have been through the hardest of hard times, fighting
through a string of stresses and strains to arrive to where they are today; weary but oh so resilient. Pain can hide behind the brightest smiles and the toughest cookies can still crumble.
R U OK Day helps us to recognise this.
It also offers a crucial chance to communities far and wide to put all differences aside and reflect on how our words and actions can impact those around us.
We can use it as an opportunity to understand how we can improve mindset and behaviour to better support each other, acknowledge each other’s struggles as well as strengths, and bring to life a more united front in shaping a kinder, more supportive future for us all.
What we do today can work wonders in how we feel tomorrow.
Don’t be afraid to open up to someone.
Feelings, especially ones of hurt and heaviness, deserve to be released off the chest and into the open. They lose some of their power when they are shared with someone we trust, who listens, can empathise, can share some of their own experiences, and perhaps even help to carve out a path forward.
Out of the oppressive unknown and into better days.
R U OK Day is a day lined with lessons, love, and long-lasting impact.
I hope we are all able to take what we need to from it and apply it beyond September 14.
