This is for you on the days when you feel like giving up; on the days when you wish you could hide away in your bed and never return. This is for you on the days when the clouds block any glimpse of sunlight, when the shadows paint the world around you. This is for you on the days when nothing feels right…when you’re drowning in helplessness, when you’re crawling out of your skin…when you’re falling, when you’re sinking, and when you don’t know if you can go on.

Somedays life will be too hard…so much harder than you ever imagined. So much harder than you ever expected. These are the days that will wear you down…the days that will test you to the point of exhaustion.

You probably feel like life is too heavy; like you can’t do this. It may feel as if the whole world is pressing down on your shoulders, depriving you of strength, pushing down on your soul. Every portion of your life is daunting. You don’t fit in here.

You may feel like giving up. You may feel empty…exhausted…done. But you must hang on. You must find one tiny little bit of life to cling to, and let this serve as your lifeboat. You can hold on as long as you need, just don’t let go.

Maybe your biggest accomplishment will be to breathe in and out, and to make it out of bed. And you know what? Maybe that’s okay. Keep breathing, in and out. In and out. You will be okay.

You can never be permanently broken. Every day you can start again, and every day you have the chance to put yourself back together. It may take time and it may take strength, but you are not broken. You are just a little scraped up. Nothing ever stays the same in this world – not even the bad times. The feelings will pass, so please sit through them. I promise that chances are, you will feel better very soon. And when you begin to heal again, you will see that the places you heal will become unbreakable. That’s because you are strong. Sadness is not a sign of weakness.

Allow yourself some space to breathe, and understand that life is just life. It’s okay to mess up, and it’s okay to fall down. It’s okay to feel bad…even really, really bad. And I know right now it seems painful and never ending, but maybe this is the beginning of something different. It’s okay to fall completely apart, because even when you do, you won’t stay there for long.

You don’t need to ignore your feelings or push away the pain. Let the pain sink in, so that maybe you can understand that it is only a visitor, it’s not here to stay.

But also understand that your mind has a way of bending reality; your mind has a way of leading you to believe that your insecurities and fear have power. Don’t listen to this. Know that your mind is playing tricks on you, and by doing so, be careful when you consider which thoughts you choose to believe.

If you can begin to accept where you are in life, and accept the ambiguity of the future of something to be desired, rather than to be feared, you might see that coming out of this darkness might feel okay. It might BE okay. Even if you feel lost and confused, or like the world is too much, sit with your feelings, and take it slow and easy.

Find something very small that makes you smile, and move forward from there. Little steps. If you can slowly work your way up, everything will begin to fall back into place. Ask for help if you need it, and lean on others if you would like to. Chances are, people want you to be happy because they love you. So let yourself be cradled by another human being when you are feeling low.

Breathe in and out. You are here. You have so many wonderful thoughts in your head and beautiful feelings in your heart – you just may have to dig a bit deeper to appreciate them today. Try not to forget all of the goodness that is inside of you.

Don’t forget that even when the world is caving in, you can still save yourself. You have the power to create the bridge over this murky, unknown water. You can dig the tunnel through the darkness to see the light again. You can move forward. Things will get better in time.

So as you move forward, I hope you find a bit of grace in your demeanor, a bounce in your step. It may take a while, but one day you will suddenly see a shimmer of light again. You are the sum of strength developed from the hardest, most soul shattering times and your happiest, proudest moments filled with deep-belly laughs and soul touching smiles.

You have something that no one else has to contribute to this big blue and green earth – you have your own miraculous identity, your own touch of genius, and your own way of spreading compassion and love.

You are constantly growing, constantly shining. You are a shooting star. You are the sky. You are the earth. You are the entire universe, all packed neatly to fit perfectly into a compact body.

Breathe in. Breathe out. You will be okay.