Change can be extremely humbling. I recently changed the locks on the door of a huge part of my life that helped me grow into the person I am today, and while it has been a hard thing to go through, there are so many lessons I have taken from it. First, I’ve learned that you can’t contribute to other relationships in your life before you’ve contributed to your own relationship with yourself. This has been said time and time again, but I can’t preach enough about the validity of this statement. You have to learn how to accept yourself and understand yourself before you start reaching to others. For a long time, I’ve been the person who is there, reaching out when times are difficult for others— but I found that I often ignored myself. I tried to blame other things and other people for my shortcomings when I should have taken responsibility for myself.
Of course, there are things that you have no control over and things that just seem to happen out of nowhere— and you just have to deal with them. These things are the worst, and it’s like an emotional bomb has dropped on you. You don’t know where you’re going after this event. This is the stage I’m at in my life. So much has happened over the last two months that I’m not sure where I stand with myself. To be quite honest, I have to figure out who I am. I have to put myself first and figure out who I am and what I want to do with the life I’ve been given. I do know a few things: I’m grateful for all of the people around me, that I have all of the basic needs in life, and that I have the amazing opportunity to attend a school that will put me on a platform to do great things. I’m grateful to be surrounded by people who will also go on to do great things one day and to be surrounded by people who want to watch me grow and succeed.
The intention of this message is to not talk about me and my life and what I’m going through— the intention is to remind you, the person reading this, that life can be difficult. You’re entirely validated in feeling whatever you feel. If you’re struggling, you’re not struggling alone. Everything happens for a reason. There is so much good inside your heart and you just have to extract that and put it to good use. If you’re holding a grudge against someone— don’t. Put yourself in their shoes and see where they’re coming from. Have those hard conversations. Rise up to the challenge and take the best out of every situation. If you’re struggling in school, you are allowed to get help. You are allowed to ask for help. Don’t be discouraged and compare yourself to others because you are a wonderful person that just needs a little push in the right direction. If you’re struggling with different relationships in your life, put them into perspective. Figure out if there are some relationships that you need to let go, if there are some you need to revive, or if there are some you just need to make. If you’re struggling with making a decision of some kind, know that you are making the right call. Trust your gut. Listen to your mind and your heart and make the decision that feels right for you. Most things can change for the better. You just have to believe.
Be the person that you are destined to be. Put yourself on the forefront of the wonder that is life. Take the risks and learn from the challenges. Find the keys and open doors to your life (or maybe even close others). Feel whatever it is that you want to feel. Add to the good in this world; there’s plenty of it. Whatever it is you are going through, you will get through this. It might not be now, but one day you will look back and see how certain moments have led to others. You are wonderful, strong and brave. Things will get better. One second, one minute, one hour, one day, one week, one month, one year. Take it just one at a time, and you will get to where you need to be. Trust me.