Strength is Holding On

You know what’s OK? Not always feeling OK.

2021 has been a really hard year for me (shockingly, nothing to do with Covid.) The tough times just seem to keep coming, and remaining positive has been a struggle. Some unexpected and awful news absolutley blindsided me this past week, and it felt like more than I could handle. I’ve struggled to cope lately, which is showing up in many ways in my life right now.

I know I’m not alone in feeling this. We all struggle to deal with the cards that are dealt to us. Sometimes things are out of our control, and we certainly can’t control the actions of others. What I’ve come to realize is, we don’t need to feel guilt or shame for having human reactions to stressful and hurtful situations. We are so hard on ourselves. The pressure to pretend we’re OK and appear like we aren’t struggling is completely unrealistic. We often feel like we need to live up to some expectation that we’re infallible. We feel weak when we’re not operating at 100%. Sometimes that pressure is put onto us by others, sometimes it’s just from ourselves.

Going through hard times and stressful situations, and having a physical or emotional reaction is OK. Life can be so hard, things happen that can throw you for a loop in the blink of an eye. You’re doing your best to cope with the stress and uncertainty, and nobody can ask for anything more than that. Remember to be kind to yourself, please. Take things one day at a time.

Being strong doesn’t mean you never break. Strength is holding on, and putting yourself back together again, no matter what. ❤