This is the story of our warrior Kayal (name changed). She is 21 years old and is a Software Engineer at MakeMyTrip.
Growing up was all about studies and focusing on her career. She expressed that she did not have a hobby growing up and is currently trying to find one. Kayal is currently a working individual in Bangalore and comes from a family of four.
“I am an introvert and I grew up reserved and would keep my thoughts to myself. This would often come off as rude for some people, but I was comfortable being this person.”
She described that she loves her family and they are kind-hearted but is not close to her family as she believes in boundaries just to avoid misunderstandings and unnecessary conflicts. She enjoys her own company and believes that it has helped her have mental peace.
Kayal is a private person, and it is not easy for her to open up after being sidelined or not taken seriously.
“I reduced my circle to a handful of people and found my comfort space there. I hardly had any intentions to be a people pleaser and never sought validation for the person I felt most comfortable being.”
While things were slowly shaping up, she started feeling that being alone sometimes also triggered her loneliness.
Kayal moved to a new organisation and the transition from college to a workspace took some time for her to get settled down with. It is quite common for most of us to feel this way as meeting and handling a new set of people comes with a lot of biases, judgements and a lot more.
She was overthinking a lot of things going on in her life and mentioned that on one side growing up she dealt with trust issues with a few people and getting out of this construct was not possible for her. She also understood that on the other side if she did not make the effort neither would others.
“I was at my worst and my anxiety attacks came in causing me sleepless nights. There were days of crying that made me realise that I could not be this person and had to move out of this facade.”
It was around this time she found out about counseling services that her organisation offered to her and she decided to book her counseling sessions with Ms Akhila.
Kayal mentioned that her sleep routine was bad and needed assistance.
The point she was at mostly felt like her reality was spinning. She could not relate to what was the truth and what wasn’t. She mentioned how this was a dark phase and how she went back to losing focus on herself and feeling upset.
“I was heartbroken. It happened so fast that it took me some time to sit with how I felt. My world stopped moving, and I felt shattered.”
Kayal elucidates how meeting with her counselor Akhila gave her direction and motivated her to start having a check on her health and control her emotions. Her counselor gave her space to explain all the fear she underwent with her academics and how she was losing focus.
She described feeling lazy and procrastinating when things got difficult for her. It left Kayal feeling alone and stuck at many junctures.
“I was blessed to be able to relate with somebody like her. I was able to be by myself, and she appreciated me for being that person.”
It is revitalizing every time you meet your counselor, they deep-root hope and compassion in you, and so was the case with our warrior when he met her counselor.
“Ms. Akhila taught me Yoganithra and suggested I write a journal, it helped me with loneliness. Additionally, the relaxation technique helped me calm down and I was able to see the improvement.”
Kayal was able to get her life back on track and she controlled her emotions better, her loneliness had reduced drastically. She was a person who was pessimistic in the past, not that anymore.
“I have started practising gratitude and it has helped me understand the beauty of little things. I am proud of the little progress that I can open up more freely and do not care about society’s opinions. My reflections became more streamlined, it felt natural, and I thrived in that space for myself.”
This is the beauty of change. It helps an individual look in the mirror as a better and newer version of oneself.
Kayal rated herself with a 3.8 on a scale of 1-5 on how she feels her progress to be after seeking therapy. We are delighted to see her transforming into the person she wanted to be.
Kayal’s Warrior Tips:
1.“If mental health help is available, one must seek it. This keeps them anchored.”
2.“Talking to a counselor helps you feel good. If you are somebody who is dealing with a lot, it’s okay to come forward and gain access to therapy and its resources. It is a courageous step”
