Introduce Yourself!

Hi Steemit Community!

Mental health, financial prosperity & professional meandering is my game, Nicholas is the name! I'm from Los Angeles.

I'll try keeping this short, and only highlighting the main aspects of myself. First & foremost I think my 'journey' began while starting high school. My parents had found out that I was homosexual (gay) and weren't particularly happy about it. My entire time during highschool I had to endure abuse from them at home, which included just about the worst possible situation you could imagine for someone barely turning 14-15. I grew up playing soccer, and everything 'hit the fan' so to speak when people started talking about myself being gay on the soccer team. I remember it (unfortunately) very clearly- The cliche, whispers/murmurs followed by pointing and laughing. That ended up snowballing into verbal beckons and 'being afraid' to play soccer with me. The day everyone on the team found out about it, I just walked off field crying and frustrated, in the middle of practice deciding I wasn't ever playing again. This was followed by a period of drug abuse and toxic relationships in hopes of patching my wounds- but we all know things like that only make the situation worse for the individual.

But that's not at all why i'm here, or something I like focusing on. I'm here because my mantra lately has been "be who you needed when you were younger". I do still deal with depression & anxiety, but I've learned how to cope with them. More importantly, throughout the hell I had to endure I gained traits I'll forever be thankful for. Sympathy, empathy, kindness, just the little things in life and between people which make life so special. The people I see going through that same hell, are some of the most beautiful souls I've ever met. It absolutely pains me to see them helpless, feeling alone, suicidal. So I feel almost an obligation to do what I can in ensuring others don't face that same battle alone.

In a nutshell, I joined Steemit because I'm actually writing a book on my battle with depression, as well as trying to create a series of youtube videos for anyone who might be in the same boat as I was. While I love Medium, it doesn't have anywhere close to as much potential as Steemit does.

If any viewers have any questions regarding mental health, or any comments about topics they'd like me to speak on even- feedback is absolutely welcomed!

Cheers, everyone!