She survived

Chances are good--very good--that someone reading these words right now feels lost. Alone. Broken. Without answers, a path, a guide. And without a doubt--everyone reading these words right now has felt that kind of lost, before. We all know what it means to go through those periods of life where it feels as if there is absolutely nothing that we can hold on to, and that lack of holding on is terrifying.

So here’s something to try: regardless of where you are, today, think of the last time you felt particularly lost and broken. Remember how that felt. Then go dig through your photo albums or online files. Find a picture of yourself from that time. Look deeply into the eyes of that person who might have been smiling into the camera, but who was fighting wars with herself beneath her skin.

Consider: she won the battle, last time. She climbed through. She survived. She figured out what land looked on the other side of a seemingly endless ocean of hurt or pain.

Honor her for her courage. And then remember: When that photo was taken, that woman didn’t know when her pain was going to end, when she’d feel as if she had anything to provide a framework for her life again. She didn’t know when answers would come, or what she’d do with them when they arrived, or how she’d reconstruct herself. But she did. And you will, too.