Are you the friend or the ship?

I don’t understand why friends still feel the need to compete with friends. Why do you have to be better, richer and skinnier? This is not the Olympics and you will definitely not be handed a golden medal if that’s your goal.

This year taught me more about friendship – are you the ‘friend’ or are you the ‘ship’ that sails away when things get tough? Do you check in with your girl when she’s going through a tough time even though it looks like she’s got everything together? Newsflash – she doesn’t.

So, it’s not a FBI secret that I got really sick this year and ended up in hospital in September. I got booked off for another three months and still have to take a little handful of medication to get better which I don’t like, because weight gain and stuff…

BUT I’ve realised over the last few months that it really doesn’t matter what you weigh or what you wear… health always come first and although I don’t feel 100% comfortable in my body just yet, I’ve never been healthier. Some days are still tough and I’m not embarrassed to admit that, but let’s be real… no one likes to share their struggles on Instagram so in general people think I’m living my best life right now. Debatable.

Anyways, while being at my weakest I’ve learned to open up more towards my closest friends and the response was the opposite I thought I would receive.

Support, support, support! I thought that they would see me as ‘failure’ in their eyes, but it was literally the opposite. Never have I received so many messages from friends, ex-colleagues and strangers on social media saying that they are proud of me for being just a ‘real person’ speaking about ‘very real issues’.

Why shouldn’t it be okay to not be okay? I feel that there’s a huge lack of mental health support on social media and that we NEED more influencers/ real people speaking up about it.

Unfortunately one or two people I really care(d) about didn’t really care to check in with me, but that’s okay too, because the only ship I will be sailing in 2019 is a 5-star yacht and it will be by invite only.

Always, Anne

xoxo

PS. I did a impromptu shoot with one of my best friends, Listelle, recently at one of my favourite local hangout spots in Sea Point -Strolla. Thank you Listellie for just being you, just having a way to always make me laugh and leaving my heart a little warmer.