Face your battles, whatever they may be.

Creating a happy life is hard work. It’s not hard work like putting together a thesis for grad school or running a marathon when you don’t like to run. It’s hard work like a package arrives at your door and it’s everything you’ve ever wanted, all you have to do is carry it to your room and be patient figuring out how to open it. 


How you live your life will always be about the way you view yourself. See yourself as equal. You have the ability to obtain the same opportunities as everyone around you. Their advantages may appear as disadvantages to you, but trust me you have advantages they don’t. Everything is balanced, everything is whole. Exert your energy into believing in your greatness. How you can help yourself in order to help others. What you have to offer yourself and the world. Get ahead to give back. See your magic and share it. 


Sometimes I struggle seeing the validity of my “problems” when I feel privileged to have avoided obvious hardships such as absent parents or financial problems. So what if I was depressed? I had support from friends and family who loved me. Big whoop I overcame weight loss, I had plenty of food on the table. If we put down the issues we must work through, they lose credit as an accomplishment when we overcome them. Each and everyone of us have privileges and hardships. Just as you should not put down someone for being raised on the streets, you should not put yourself down for anxiety over a job interview. Your feelings are allowed, they are appropriate and they are to be respected. 


A friend once said to me, “You think you’re strong when you hold back but that’s not what being strong is. Facing your emotions is being strong.” Face your emotions, face your problems. Don’t pity yourself, however problems don’t need extra worry over the fact that they are there. Once a problem is acknowledged, it is ready to be solved. Allow yourself the privilege to work on yourself. 


There’s a difference between being brave facing your feelings and acting brave by pretending you don’t have any. I’ve been so afraid to feel the loss of my brother because it’s a pain I simply don’t want to endure. I try so hard to live a happy life, overcoming pain, I lose sight of the essential ingredient to my strength. You cannot battle if you don’t show up. It is confronting my pain, my fears, my emotions that led me success. Everything I know, all I’ve accomplished have come from feeling, understanding, and adjusting my life to my circumstances. I would be a fraud if I continued on like life is all skittles and rainbows no matter what comes my way. That is not the truth. The truth is, I face difficulties almost impossible to bare, except anything is possible if you own the strength to believe in yourself. I would be doing myself an injustice to ignore this hurt, as if I don’t believe I can handle it. It’s time to feel it. How scary it is to embark this grief. Now bottled up, knowing it’s going to shatter me. But the incredible part of being human..we can be shattered, completely destroyed, and left to only our mind to pick up the pieces and put ourselves together. Haven’t you ever taken something apart only to fix it? Check to see all the pieces are still there and how they fit back together. If something isn’t working, something is broken or misplaced inside, open that shit up and rearrange it until it works again. If I don’t look inside, inspect my broken pieces, I’m only making it harder for the dooming explosion that awaits me.


See your strength. Find your hope. Do you want to succeed? What does that look like for you? Everything you’re imagining is in your reach. Be patient. Your visions, your happiness does not expire. When you see it, it will be attainable. If you need to take a deeper look inside, I encourage you to do so. There is nothing too broken to be fixed when it comes to human nature. We are the most powerful beings and our lives, our happiness is in our control and our control only.