Here’s How I Know Life Gets Better

It’s almost noon on a Sunday morning. I’m sitting at home thinking about all of the people I encounter on a daily basis, and they all have one thing in common; their soul, is in some way, fragmented and shattered.

I don’t know if it is just because of who I am, or if the whole world is like me, but I scrutinize everyone. I try my best to examine each and every person to figure out exactly what makes them the way that they are. What are they going through? What is their struggle? 

The truth is, the thought of “life getting better” fills almost everyone with abhorrence. It’s too commonly used when someone is going through a hard time, so common in fact, that when we hear it, we are almost immune to believing in it. I’ll be the first to admit that when someone tells me “I’m sorry you’re going through this, but I promise it will get better,” that I am conditioned to just saying “thank you” and I move on from the conversation. The phrase “You’re strong” does the same thing for me.

I know I’m not alone in this, but I just want to share with you that it truly does get better. Take a look back at every hard situation you’ve faced in your life. The fact that you have to look back is proof that it gets better. If it didn’t, you’d still be in whatever situation you were in.

The same thing will happen for anything else you face in your life.

I know you feel weak. I know you feel like you are walking through the fires of hell. I know you want to give up. I know you feel exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally. I know you wish you could be anywhere else, but where you are. I know you wish you could be someone else. You might have lost hope. You might be overflowing with anger or disappointment and frustration. Maybe you’re holding onto antipathies and sufferings from your past, or worrying about the future.

You are weary and no longer want to hold onto life by the tail end, but I promise you:

This too shall pass.

You are going to make it through today, tomorrow, and even next week. There’s no promise for a better tomorrow, but you will have a better someday.

The key to going through hardship is tackling the small stuff, to seeing something positive in every day. You might not have met your biggest goal, but were you greeted by the warm embrace of someone you love as you walked through the door? Did your dog jump on you when you came home? Were you able to see little eyes looking up to you as you cooked them dinner? Or hold little hands as you walked through the store?

Maybe tomorrow will be dreadful, maybe you won’t wake up with a smile or feel ecstatic to be alive, but something will happen, and you must take that diminutive moment that you may see as insignificant, and make it the most substantial moment of your day. Dwell on it. Soak it in. Be grateful.

To be candor, we will never experience something incredible every day if we are always waiting for something big to happen. It is through the small things that all of the great things flourish, and while it may seem small; the ripple effects you will see by changing your attitude about them, will be extraordinary.

It is the small things, the size of a mustard seed, that ultimately move mountains.