Category Archives: Discovery

Depression, Discovery, Dreaming, Growth, Healing, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Self-Care, Self-Love, Writing

The Here & Now

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As you’re well aware by now, I am in a perpetual holding pattern with no end in sight. I’m not going to get into it too much though because I’ve already talked about it at length. I don’t really have much more to say about it. There’s just simply nothing within my power that is guaranteed to change that. All I can do at this point is hope & pray. Until the right opportunity comes my way, this is how life is going to be. I can either be upset by it or accept it.

In the past, that’s something that’s discouraged me majorly. It’s caused me to lose focus, caused me to look ahead or look behind. Instead of focusing on my day-to-day and the here & now I would fantasize about the future or dwell on the mistakes of the past. Dreaming and reflecting are fine in moderation but overuse of either will only serve as distractions, taking away from what you can do to make each day better. Which is what should be the main focus. The present is the one thing that you have any amount of control over so should be what matters most. The past can’t be changed, and the future is unpredictable. These are both indisputable facts of life, as much as we try to act otherwise at times. 

Intuitively I’ve known this, but it’s become easy for me to lose sight of. I’m not as healthy mentally as I was three years ago. That’s a fact that I’m not afraid to admit. Some people may see this as weakness, but at the end of the day, you have to be honest and realistic with yourself. You’re doing yourself a disservice otherwise. Obviously, admitting fault, acknowledging your weaknesses, and/or taking the blame will probably make you look bad, which is why most people don’t like to do it. So doing it takes a lot of guts. It takes strength to point the finger at yourself and say, “maybe there were a few things I could’ve done better” or, “maybe there was a better way.” When it comes down to it, all we’re looking for is answers and solutions. The best way to find those is to keep an even keel. Balance, in other words… The key word for 2025 (and beyond). You don’t want to be too lenient on yourself, but at the same time you don’t want to be too harsh. You want to give yourself the proper amount of credit when it’s due, and also accept the proper amount of blame when necessary. Be wary. It’s easy to go too far to either side if you’re not careful.

Too much lenience may lead to justification of bad behavior, missed opportunities for growth, not taking the proper steps to improve, etc. Too much harshness may lead to lost confidence, increased self-loathing, and unfair self-criticism amongst other things. These things are equally damaging but manifest in different ways, and are to be avoided. These things end up being detrimental to your success. I don’t think I have to tell you that this is not what you want. You’re trying to be kind to your future self. In order to do that, you need to be setting yourself up for success, not doing things that get in the way of that. We’re on a quest for sustained excellence. In order to achieve that, you need to be constantly making micro adjustments. Good enough isn’t good enough. You cannot continue on an upwards trajectory if you remain stagnant. But again, this requires balance. Being stagnant is not always a bad thing, as long as it’s a temporary state of being—you cannot allow yourself to become stagnant forever. At some point you will need to continue on. Be grateful for all the steps you’ve taken to get to where you are, but also know that the journey isn’t over yet. Be comfortable with where you are in life, but also accept that things could also be better. If you keep both of these things in mind you allow yourself to have a proper appreciation for the day to day, while also striving for the best future possible. 

For me, one of the things that I’m always in search of is self-improvement. I’m trying to be a better version of myself each and every day. Some days are easier than others, but this is what I try to have my eye set on. It helps me stay focused, and keeps me pointed in the right direction. The best way to move onwards and upwards is to take it one step at a time, one day at a time, one moment at a time, to keep looking forward. Your mileage may vary. Self-improvement doesn’t look the same for every person, and it doesn’t look the same every day. It could be gaining new knowledge, seeking out different experiences, trying out different hobbies, acquiring a skill, or honing a talent. It doesn’t really matter what it is (or how big or small), but it must be top of mind for you. In order for your circumstances to change or improve, you must be intentional about it. You must be open-minded. You must be willing to try things a different way if your way isn’t working. You must have the determination to continue grinding even when things get tough. Your circumstances won’t get better if you’re not putting in the effort. 

But unfortunately for us, growth and development isn’t always linear. Sometimes we need to make mistakes in order to learn our lesson(s). Other times, it could feel like you’re taking one step forwards, and two steps back. Occasionally, life blesses us with good fortune and we’re able to move forward without much adversity. This is obviously the ideal that we hope for, but it’s a bit of a rarity. It just isn’t always that easy. Life is tough and full of speed bumps and strange turns—that’s just how it is. Things aren’t always going to play out the way that you think they will. You need to be prepared for the possibility that things might not work out. You will need to learn how to temper your expectations so that you don’t keep setting yourself up for disappointment. Easier said than done, of course. But it’ll go a long way in keeping your confidence high. Which is an important element when it comes to growth. I can probably speak for most people when I say that things are much easier to cope with when my confidence is high. The disappointment doesn’t hit as hard. It’s not as easy to get discouraged. The self-doubts aren’t as loud. I’m able to put my head down and grind. I’m better able to keep my emotions in check—not get too high or too low. I feel like I’m more in control when my confidence is high.

One of the bigger problems for me is finding ways to keep that meter mostly full. Something that’s always been tough for me. Growing up as a shy and introverted kid, confidence usually came at a premium. And while this did eventually improve slightly in some areas, it remained a concern in many others. For the most part, if I was comfortable in a certain situation, the confidence wasn’t an issue. But if I wasn’t comfortable… Yeah, you get the picture. This remained mostly true until I started going to therapy. Learning how to be gentler on myself went a long way towards fixing that. That being said, confidence has not generally been a strong suit of mine. In hindsight, pursuit of an artistic endeavor was probably not the brightest idea then, seeing as how delayed gratification is very much the expected reward, which does not help with building confidence. But it was not something that could be helped. There was a story inside of me that was waiting to be written. The biggest regret would’ve been waiting so long that I never got around to writing it.

But now that I’m in the thick of writing it, the going has been slower than I anticipated. As I said earlier, things don’t always play out the way that you expect. This is proof of that. But I’m closer to the end than I am to the beginning (which has been true for about a year), so I really have no choice but to finish it. That hasn’t been an area of doubt for me in a long time. I’m going to finish this project no matter what it takes. But how much will it drain me by the time I get to the end? Unfortunately, in the world of art, until you have a completed project you won’t have anything to show the world, hence the delayed gratification. You very much need to take a process-oriented approach over a results-oriented one. Taking the latter opens you up to a lot of disappointment, especially if progress is slow. You therefore should stake your confidence in something aside from mere results. 

Finding what to stake it on is an answer that I have not yet come up with. I used to be focused on improving the quality of my writing. While that was a rather intangible goal, I was eventually able to achieve it. Seeing my writing slowly improve was something that kept me motivated and confident. It kept me moving forward and kept me focused. But what came after? For a while that wasn’t something that I had really thought about. Which is something that I regret. The thing about goal-setting is that it never ends. Once you reach a goal you need to set another one. That’s the only way you’ll get to where you want to go. But at the same time, you can’t just set goals for the sake of setting them. The goals that you set need to be realistic enough for you to achieve, and challenging enough that they push you towards greatness. They can’t be too easy but they also can’t be too hard. Too easy and you’ll be tempted to move the goal posts before you’re ready. Too hard and you might find that you’re feeling discouraged. It’s a delicate process that you don’t want to mess up.

Fortunately, even if you do mess up things are fixable. It’s just a matter of if you have the time and the patience to fix it. Sometimes you’re able to catch the mistake before it’s too late. But more often than not you find yourself wandering down a path that you maybe shouldn’t have wandered down. That’s kinda where I find myself now. When I quit my job I wasn’t quite honest with myself about my expectations for where my writing would take me. I took a leap that I probably shouldn’t have taken (not without a backup plan at least). But of course, hindsight is 20/20. I didn’t know how things would turn out. And if I hadn’t exited the workforce, would my writing have improved to where it needs to be? I have my doubts. That being said, I needed that time off. I needed time and focus spent solely on my craft. So on the one hand, I do not regret taking some time off to focus on my writing. But I just wish I had been more realistic with my goals and expectations. I needed to have some sort of plan to transition back into the workforce after a certain amount of time had elapsed. That would’ve saved me a lot of heartache. 

But it is what it is. Mistakes were made, and I have to suffer the consequences of my actions. All I can do is focus on the here & now. Focus on what I can do to make each day a little bit better. Unfortunately I can’t just change things with a snap. Everything takes time, so it’s imperative that I find one last ounce of patience. I need to continue working on the novel, and continue sending out job applications. Those are the only two things within my control at the moment. No use crying about it cause that won’t change anything. I just have to make the most of what I’m able to do. And then we wait, and hope for my big break. The right opportunity for me is out there somewhere, I believe that. I just have to stay patient. I’ll be ready for it when it comes. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later. 

Changing, Discovery, Doubt, Dreaming, Growth, Healing, Hope, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Reflections, Self-Care, Self-Love, Wellness, Writing

A Mixed Bag

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I’m sorry I’ve been MIA for as long as I have. I guess I’ve just been going through some things mentally. No reason to worry though, as my emotional state is good—I’m happy and stable. But something still feels off. Lately, I’ve found that I’m not as excited or enthusiastic about my writing journey as I was previously. I wouldn’t quite call it burnout or writer’s block, since I am still writing daily, even if I’m not doing it on here. But in truth, I don’t really know what I would call it. 

Unfortunately, it’s been a year full of disappointments, which affected me more than I was willing to admit. I’m not really the type of person to complain about things though. If I’m upset about a circumstance I’ll either suck it up and deal with it, or try to find a way to improve it. I pride myself on my problem solving and adaptability, which normally help me come out on top. However, that was not the case this time around. It seems that none of what I tried this year ended up working. While it wasn’t a terrible year per se, nothing ever really swung my way. It’s been more of a mixed bag than anything, so it’s not like the year was a complete disaster—there are still some small blessings to be grateful for. Here’s to hoping that 2025 will be better. 

For the longest time now, my therapist has started each session with the same question, “How are you doing, Justin?” For a while, my answer used to fluctuate greatly from not good to triumphant and everything in between. No surprise there considering my emotional state back then. I wasn’t even-keeled like I am now. I didn’t have the self-awareness that I have now. I didn’t show myself grace or acceptance like I do now. I let bad moods linger and snowball. I allowed my stress level to build and build and build. I didn’t know how to control my anger or sadness all that well. I went through high highs and low lows. My life was a whole rollercoaster of emotions, without a real centerline to return to. I was either elated in the moment but without any lasting joy. Or I was upset and disappointed, with nothing in between. 

That much has since changed. I’ve learned how to accept and process my emotions for what they are, positive or negative. I’ve learned how to regulate them better. Be the one in control of them, rather than letting them control me. Happiness, sadness, anger, are all inevitable parts of life—every emotion is. You can’t just avoid your sadness or anger because you don’t like how they make you feel. Ignoring them or pretending like they don’t exist will only make you ill-prepared for the next time you feel that way. Like many things, I learned this the hard way. Each time I felt anger bubble up I would feel ashamed of it. Every time I felt sad I would beat myself up for it, and end up feeling worse. My life for two and a half decades was riddled with guilt. I had conditioned myself to believe that both of these emotions needed to be avoided at all times. I believed that even the smallest inkling of them was a sign of weakness.

It wasn’t until a few months into therapy that I realized the wrongness of my approach. For the first six months or so, my therapist spent the first fifteen minutes of every session going over one specific emotion in an objective and unbiased manner, in hopes of separating me from my misconceptions. She started out with giving me the definition of the word, which led into thought exercises such as word associations, talking about proper and improper ways to react to said emotion, and other things. Her goal was to get me to accept and embrace all of my emotions, regardless of if I had a positive or negative perception of them. And it worked! But it took some time for me to get there.

Finding my way back to a healthy mindset was a multistep process that took a lot of time and energy. It wasn’t instantaneous like a lightbulb turning on or off. It took a lot of understanding, a lot of breaking down and building up, a lot of self-acceptance to get me to where I am today. But most importantly, it took years of therapy to uncondition myself from my old mindset, and recondition myself into my new one. If you compared who I am today with who I was ten years ago it would be like comparing night and day. You would find two vastly different individuals. But I didn’t change overnight. I didn’t transform from a naive, depressed, twenty-three year old straight to a confident, knowledgable, and calm thirty-three year old. I got from here to there in small increments. I took a few steps forward, a few steps back. I made a few mistakes, I learned a few lessons. But most critical of all, I showed myself grace regardless of the outcome.

I started to accept all parts of me rather than hiding certain things. I stopped trying to suppress interests that I thought clashed with the image I was trying to portray. When it came down to it, the most important bit wasn’t other’s perception of me, but rather, who I actually was. Was I staying true to myself? Was the image of me a genuine portrayal of who I was? Was I proud of the person I had become? For the longest time, the answer to all of these questions was, ‘no.’ I realized through therapy that I was spending way too much time on maintaining the facade. I was wasting energy on this pretense when it would’ve been more productively spent on bettering myself and improving my situation. This led me to a second realization: that the biggest disservice was to myself. The person I hurt the most with these lies was me.

The truth of the matter was that a large part of me was afraid of what life would look like without the facade. For many years, it was part of a safety mechanism that I’d put in place to protect myself. It was a way for me to cover up my biggest sensitivities. To prevent myself from becoming too vulnerable in a relationship—as a shy kid who had a hard time making friends, losing a friendship was one of my biggest fears, so I kept my distance and built up walls (little did I know that it often backfired, resulting in a self-fulfilling prophecy). It allowed me to minimize the “target” on my back by suppressing my nerdier tendencies. It helped me mask my lack of self-confidence. I was able to live in a bubble, pretending like things were fine when they weren’t. It allowed me to continue ignoring my problems, to shove them into a deep corner of my mind where I didn’t have to deal with them.

But as I’ve stated several times before, “out of sight, out of mind” ends up doing more harm than good. By ignoring your issues and shoving them off to the side, you give them room to fester and grow, outside of your purview. Pretending like problems don’t exist doesn’t fix them or make them go away. The problem is still there whether or not you want to acknowledge it. The only way to fix a weakness or a flaw is to face it head on, to address it directly, to admit that it’s actually there. Once I accepted this, I was finally able to move on with my life. As they say in Alcoholics Anonymous, the first step is admitting that you have a problem—something that’s relevant to life in general. 

Once you make this first admission, everything else starts to come into focus. I was able to admit that I didn’t have all the answers and that I needed help. I was able to come to grips with who I was and accept me as I was. And with that acceptance came confidence that I’d never known before. Rather than letting my circumstance dictate the way my life unfolded I finally felt in control for the first time. I was able to rely more on my strengths, and work on my weaknesses. All of this helped me mature into an adult. And I couldn’t have done it without therapy. 

I owe my life to therapy. It rescued me from the darkness inside my soul. It saved me from an untimely death. It liberated me from a life of mediocrity. It gave me purpose again. It gave me courage to face the gloom that clouded my mind. It gave me the strength to face my fears. But most importantly, it taught me self-awareness. It taught me how to be confident. It taught me how to rediscover my passion. Without therapy my life would’ve turned out differently. Without it I wouldn’t be adequately prepared to face what life has to throw at me. So even though 2024 was full of disappointments I can still move on. I can continue chasing my dream. The dream doesn’t change, but how I get there might. So all I have to do is keep an open mind. Be adaptable like I’ve always been. It’ll all come together eventually. 

Art, Brokenness, Changing, Discovery, Existentialism, Mental Health, Poetry, Questions, Reflections

Where Do I Go from Here?

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It’s become so hard for me to see
Where I wanna go and where I wanna be
I thought I knew, for the longest time
But I’m losing my direction slowly but surely
Things haven’t played out the way that I wanted
I was always meant to pivot from there
But it’s become harder to do as I get more blue

There was a time when I had plans A, B, and C
There were moments when I thought I had it all figured out
I was adaptable and flexible, motivated to press on
I kept my legs churning, kept moving forward

But it’s become harder and harder of late
It’s become easy for me to lose my way
It’s been so long since I’ve had a win
So it’s become harder and harder to bounce back
It’s become easier to lose my focus

How do I keep going on?
How do I transition to the next phase
When I’ve been out of it for so long?
What do I do next?
What is the next move?
I wish I knew
I wish I had my unshakeable confidence back
I wish my compass would fix itself
So I’d have some sense of direction once again

I’ve been going out of my mind
Trying to fit the pieces back together
But it hasn’t been the easiest of late
Something just feels off
Doesn’t feel right

It’s a feeling that I’ve tried my hardest to shake
But it just won’t break away, won’t come free
It’s sitting there in the back of my mind
There when I’m awake, there when I’m asleep
My subconscious mind is trying to tell me something
But what?

The same dreams repeat over and over
Placing me in the middle of scenarios that I thought I’d outgrown
Reminders of past failures continuing to trouble my mind
But I’m not like that anymore!
I’m better now, smarter, wiser, enlightened

But still my past haunts me in my dreams
Still it screams out, “I’m still here!”
How do I tune out the voices?
How do I let go of the past?
How do I move on into the present and the future
When my past is still clawing at my leg?
I’ve moved on, I’ve gotten over it, I’ve let go
But it seems my past still has ahold of me
Gripping tightly and never letting go
How do I move on?
Where do I go from here?

Brokenness, Discovery, Mental Health, Poetry, Questions, Reflections, Writing

Losing My Way

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For so long I thought I knew where I wanted to go
But it seems I’ve lost my way as of late
I knew it wouldn’t be easy
I knew it wouldn’t be quick
And yet I still found myself sick (of waiting)
I found myself feeling impatient
Feeling like the whole world was against me
Feeling like the fates weren’t going to be kind

But I was being too hard on myself
Not giving myself enough credit
Not properly valuing my worth
Overlooking the amount of work I’ve put in
I can do great things, I just need to believe in myself
I’ve already learned so much along the way
Already improved by leaps and bounds

I have to keep pressing on
There’s more to learn
More to do along the way
The going will be tough, won’t ever be easy
But I’ve faced failure before
And I’m not afraid of it

The best things in life require hard work and sacrifice
Success is earned, it’s never given
Your reward will come once the work is done
Not a second or a minute or a day before
Your time will come
But it may not be according to plan

Keep your head down
And keep doing what you do
Your toil and dedication will get you to where you want to go
In the end you will have the last laugh
All those who doubted you
Where are they now?
They’ve been silenced
And have floated away in the wind

Some day you’ll get to where you want to go
But not without effort and work ethic
Not without putting in the hours
Sometimes you will find that you’ve lost your way
But it doesn’t mean you can’t find your way back again
Take a step back and relax
Show yourself some grace
Be patient with yourself
You’ll figure it out at the end of the day

Changing, Depression, Discovery, Greatness, Growth, Healing, Mental Health, Reflections, Self-Care, Self-Love, Wellness, Writing

Growing Pains

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“Life is what you make of it.” A statement that I’ve gone back and forth on for years. When I was younger, it was a phrase that limited me, held me back. It added extra pressure in ways that weren’t beneficial. As a depressed teenager, this was one of my main trigger phrases. C’mon you know them. Things like, “just be happy,” or “look on the bright side,” or “you’ll be okay.” All phrases that are seemingly harmless to the neurotypical, but from the outside looking in, you have no idea how damaging such phrases can be to the neurodivergent, even if your intentions are pure (yes, I know that depression and anxiety aren’t traditionally counted among the neurodivergent, but I beg to differ). 

Deep down, I knew that these statements all had a grain of truth to them, but this wasn’t what I wanted to hear at all. The truth is I was already too psychologically unstable for any of this stuff to resonate. By the time my mom started throwing these phrases at me in my later high school years, it was already too late. I had already closed myself off to the world. Put up my barriers. Conditioned myself to expect the worst. Convinced myself of my worthlessness. I had zero belief in myself or my ability. So how could you say those things to me? How could you tell me that life is what you make of it, if I didn’t think I was capable of doing anything worthwhile? How could you tell me to just be happy, if I no longer remembered what happiness felt like? How could you tell me to look on the bright side, if I felt like the bright side had already passed me by?

I was already too blinded by my pessimism. Too worn down by life’s struggles to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It was hard for me to see a way through when my mind was clouded by the darkness inside. It was hard for me to believe that the sun would shine again, when I was under a perpetual rain cloud. So, it really didn’t matter how true these statements were (or weren’t), there was no getting through to me in my emotional state. And that’s part of the reason why things never really got better for me for the longest time—because my perspective on life hadn’t changed. I was trying to do things differently while maintaining the same thought process. Which, I’ve learned the hard way doesn’t often work out. If you want real change in your life, you can’t be half-in/half-out. You’re either committed or you’re not.

Of course, I’m oversimplifying it quite a bit, but think about it. If you lack commitment or if you’re not serious enough about wanting to change, you’re not going to do everything within your power to see that happen. It’ll be easier for you to make excuses or justify bad habits by saying, “but that’s the way I’ve always done it.” Easier to revert to old ways. Easier to give up when the going gets tough. In order to move onward and upward, you need to be able to look at your life holistically and determine what needs changing and what doesn’t. It’s hard to do that without changing your perspective. That’s not to say that it can’t be done, only that it makes it more challenging. You do, however, have to look at it on a case by case basis. In my case, I was doing myself a disservice by putting obstacles in my own way. By not committing to change I was only setting myself up for failure. By not changing my perspective I was only delaying healing and progress. 

Some people are born with confidence, or an innate desire to strive for better, or are naturally able to self-motivate and push themselves without any outside influence. Some people need to be taught these things. Some people need outside motivation to start the ball rolling. And some people are able to discover all of this on their own, but it might take some time. None of these approaches is inherently wrong, just different. As I’ve said before, each person has their own unique story to tell. No two people are blessed with the exact same gifts. No two people have the same weaknesses or face the same adversity. As such, each person goes through different stages of their lives at their own pace. At some point in your life you’ll have to learn to accept this.

The sooner you do, the sooner you’ll be able to start figuring out how to navigate through life. It feels like we’re way too hard on ourselves sometimes. We beat ourselves up for mistakes that we’ve made. We don’t show ourselves enough patience or compassion. We see others thriving or making something of themselves, and we ask ourselves, “why am I such a loser,” or “what’s wrong with me,” or “why do I suck?” Instead of thinking about the steps that we need to take to get us there, we self-deprecate. We question our worth. We start doubting ourselves and our abilities. And it feels natural for us to do so! But this is an unhealthy way of thinking, and one that you need to try to break out of as soon as you can. You wouldn’t say such things to your friends or treat them that poorly. So why are you doing it to yourself? Show yourself some grace, and stop comparing yourself to others! Each situation is different, and as such, results will vary.

Easier said than done, as with all things. But you’ll feel better for it. Instead of comparing yourselves to others, compare who you are now to who you were then. I can guarantee you that there’s been some changes along the way—some good, some bad. Embrace them and rejoice in them. Each day is different. Some days will feel like a step in the right direction, some days won’t. But you can’t let a bad day ruin your week or your month or your year. Think about what you’re passionate about, and plant a purpose or goals in your mind. Figure out what you want to do in life, and go from there. And focus on controlling what you can control, which are namely your effort, consistency, drive, and discipline. If you can maintain your effort and consistency, drive and discipline will come in time. Remember that you can’t control how people react, you can only control what you put out. Once you embrace that, it’ll be easier for you to put your head down and get to work. But that will require you to develop a thicker skin, to build up some mental fortitude.

All that will come in time, and with experience. Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to face your adversity head on. Which will hurt in the moment, but you’ll be better off in the end. Take it from me. As we’ve discussed before, I used to shut down when faced with adversity. I tried to run or hide every time, but I was only delaying the inevitable. The running and the hiding would only end up taking me so far. Ignoring my problems didn’t make them diminish or go away. In fact, it actually made them worse, far worse. It took years of therapy to break down my bad habits. To rid myself of my unhealthy way of thinking. To undo the harm I did to myself psychologically. It took even longer than that to change my perspective. To discover my passion. To find happiness. To build up confidence. 

It turns out that my mom was right after all. All I needed was a different perspective. But it was much much harder than she had made it seem. It wasn’t something that could be changed at the drop of a hat. It wasn’t something that would just click right away. It took a lot of effort and discipline. And I needed to condition and recondition myself in order to have a healthier mindset. But I was able to do it in the end. I came out of all of this stronger and more equipped to deal with whatever life throws at me. I’ve finally come to a place that I feel really good about. I’m excited about where I am and I’m motivated to continue to try to get to where I wanna go. 

And I want the same thing for you. I want to see you thrive. I want to see you pursue greatness. We were put here on this earth to build others up, not tear others down. Success breeds success. Positive energy is contagious. Surround yourself with individuals who are trying to be better versions of themselves each and every day, and soon you’ll see yourself wanting to do the same. Encourage each other, and eventually you’ll be able to get to where you want to go, together. We were all meant for great things in life. We are all more than capable. We are all talented and skilled in our own ways. No one was brought into life, destined to be mediocre. You can change your “fate.” Your life does not follow a script. You are in control of your life, your life is not in control of you.

Adversity. Challenges. Difficulties. Tough times. Rough days. They’re all a part of life. Everyone goes through them, but each person is given a unique set of circumstances. But these circumstances do not define or constrain you. You can change the narrative—you just have to to commit to it. Life isn’t about what you go through, but how you deal with it. Your adversity does not make you who you are, your fight does. I promise you you’ll come out of it stronger. It won’t be easy, but you’ll make it through—I have faith in you. It’ll be a tough road to get to greatness, but anything worth doing will cost you blood, sweat, and tears. The tough times aren’t setbacks, they’re just growing pains.