No Matter The Heaviness In Your Heart Right Now, There Is Still Hope

Where you are right now pales in comparison to where you’ve been. What you’re fighting through is not a measure of who you will become. The pain you’re experiencing in this very moment does not, and will not define you.

Let this be your mantra: I am strong, I am okay, I will overcome.

Repeat those words back to yourself every time you start to falter, every time your knees shake, every time the negativity of the world starts to soak into your pores. You are not meant to feel worthless, pathetic, burdened, or weak. You are meant to shine, to grow, to flourish, to smile. And you must believe in the goodness to come, in the change knocking at your door, in the new beginnings promised with every step.

You will be okay. Even on your darkest days, hope is not lost.

It’s so easy to forget the strength you have within you when life puts its heaviness on your shoulders. It’s so hard to hold onto hope, to believe in better days, to trust that fate and faith are on your side when everything is spiraling around you, seemingly so out of your control. It’s so scary to think that there’s a small chance you won’t be okay, that you’ll forever feel like this, that no one is on your side—but even when you feel powerless, you know that’s not the truth.

In the depth of your heart, in the furthest corner of your mind you know that there is a sliver of positivity. You know that in everything you’ve fought through, everything you’ve lost, every lesson you’ve learned, you’ve become stronger. And right now, no matter how heavy your soul feels, you must remember that hope still exists.

You must remember that you are stronger than you think, that you are loved, that you are cared for by family and friends and strangers and God, and that you are never alone.

You need to look back at the places you’ve been and grown from, the people that have hurt you whom you’ve forgiven, the moments you didn’t think you could rise and yet did, the days you rolled out of bed faithless and purposeless but found your way, the times you almost gave up but didn’t.

It doesn’t matter so much that you’ve fallen into despair again, but that you acknowledge you’ve already overcome so much and thus capable of winning this current battle.

At the very core of your being lies strength, persistence, confidence, and the will to continue. Those feelings may be overshadowed by fear, doubt, and pain, but they are still there. You are still so capable of rising, of continuing, of fighting your way out of this darkness.

There is still hope.

Hope in every heartbeat. Hope in every breath. Hope in every morning you get up and put your shoes on, in every moment you choose to stand, to step, to believe. There is hope in your bones, your skin, your cells, buzzing with electricity even when you feel empty.

There is hope all around you.

You must just choose to seek help, to fight, to have faith, to know that a better life exists after you pass through this painful season. You must know that there aren’t always answers to why you have to go through what you’re going through, but the most important thing to remember is that you aren’t alone. And even when you feel like giving up, know that hope is not lost.

This isn’t the end, just a bump in the road.

Marisa Donnelly is a poet and author of the book, Somewhere on a Highway, available here.