Halfway Through the Labyrinth

Everybody deals with depression differently. 

There’s no quick fix. 

No right way out. 

Just different ways of surviving the weight.

Some choose alcohol

to drink away the sorrow, 

to make everything numb. 

Because denial is easier than facing the struggle.

Some choose drugs

to escape reality, 

to blur the edges, 

to build a world inside their head where pain can’t reach.

Some choose to leave this world entirely

backed into a corner, 

too exhausted, 

too damaged to think about those left behind.

There’s no easy way out. 

Not when you’re on your own. 

With no light to guide, 

most of us get lost trying to find the way.

Sometimes, 

we only need one person to shine a light.

But the hard truth is

most of those who try to guide don’t know the way out either.

So we walk either alone or together, through the labyrinth. 

Both lost. 

Both searching.

And often, 

the one leading the way gets tired. 

Gets lost themselves.

And becomes another casualty. 

Another soul swallowed by the shadows.

I believe only those who’ve truly found the way out can guide others through it.

I choose to throw myself into work.

Whether I’m tired or not. 

It keeps my mind away from everything else.

I’m still lost. 

Still searching. 

No one guiding me. 

No exit in sight.

But I try to help whoever I find along the way, 

one cup of coffee, 

one quiet chat at a time.

The thing that I needed, but never received.

I do it because I think I can guide halfway.

Not all the way to the exit. 

But maybe

Just maybe

while I walk beside them, 

I’ll catch a glimpse of the way out for myself.