It’s kind of funny how you can spend your time trying to help others but inadvertently help yourself, perhaps even more than anyone else.

There was a time when I basically said life didn’t matter. Late 2015 until now has been a tough road and I am all out of options. Family. Gone. Career. Gone. Academic aspirations. Gone.

In February 2011, I launched a blog called National Sixers. A little later, I launched a blog called Dante’s Opinion. Dante’s Opinion turned into DALANEL which turned into Dante’s Optimism. Little did I know, this blog would literally save my life.

I think just about all of us has something we cling to when we’re in a dark place. It could be a person, a concept, item, song, place, or whatever. For me, I found out it was this blog. When I was ready to give up on everything, I had this blog.

To be honest, I would not be here today if I didn’t have this blog. I know it. I just know it. It’s hard to explain. I actually don’t believe in “things” making an impact like this, so this is like a…a big deal. Just looking at the pain I have faced, I noticed a trend: I write when I’m…lost…sad…depressed…I write. If not the blog, I would write for any of the other websites I contribute to. If not there, I’ll go ahead and write a short skit, sometimes, based off of the real life trauma I’m facing.

You reading this and following this blog really helped too. You helped to save my life. Thank you. If I had to stop writing…if I had to stop blogging…it would be the end of me.

People close to me don’t really appreciate what this blog means to me. Some think it’s a hobby. Some think it’s a cute little thing to pass time. It’s so much more than that. That’s something I realized about myself in the past couple of weeks. This blog was lowkey pushing me onward for years.

Sometimes I wonder if I had been writing when I was a kid, would I be able to deal with crap better. Would I be a better person? Live a better life? Be more confident? See, that’s what blogging has done for me. But, here I am. A not that good person trying to figure out my purpose. Why I should keep getting out of bed. And, when I think about shutting myself down, I think about this blog and I continue to think of better days ahead.

That’s how this blog saved my life.