Christina Symes, a UK-based artist, has suffered from anxiety, depression and agoraphobia most of her life. Recently, the 30-year-old took to social media to pass along the advice she was given by her 95-year-old grandmother, Christine Symes. “Look at yourself in the mirror, wash your face, put your makeup on, put your clothes on, and then say, ‘What must I do next? I must have a little breakfast,’ or ‘I must have a cup of tea, and then I will start to do this little thing that needs doing,’” says Christine, a former teacher. She went on to explain that you don’t need to worry about anything else at that moment. “Never mind about what else has happened years ago, or what’s going to happen in the future,” she explained. Christine’s words seemed to have resonated with social media users, as they began commenting about how much help they received from the grandmother’s message to her granddaughter. Christina noted that she regards her grandmother more like a parent than a grandparent. “She’s basically my best friend and has supported me throughout my life consistently,” she said. The now-viral grandmother says that it’s important for people to feel that they matter. “If they’re going through a bad time, they matter more. If anything I’ve said actually helped somebody to get up and see the sun shining and say, ‘I will get dressed today, I will go out, I’ll contact my friend,’ that’s good.”
