I need you to get out of bed in the morning.

I know it can be hard sometimes – it’s easier to snuggle down into the covers, and just sleep. It’s comfortable in bed. It’s warm. It’s calm. It’s safe. Sometimes the thought of throwing back those covers and climbing out of bed just seems like it’s too much.

Too much to face the day. Too much to face whoever or whatever is waiting for you on the other side of the door. Too much to put one front in front of the other. Too much to keep breathing all day long.

Sometimes the very thought of doing anything of that can feel like a tiny elephant is stepping on your chest. Or maybe it’s a big one. Either way, it can be downright scary.

And so, you want to stay in bed. You want to shut your eyes and fade into black and let everyone and everything around you disappear. You want to burrow so deep in those blankets that you become one with the cotton. You just want to be still.

I know it’s warm. I know it’s calm. I know it’s safe.

But you need to get out of bed.

I hope you see that even though it’s scary, it’s worth it. You have it in you to keep breathing all day long. You are capable of putting one foot in front of the other. You can face whatever or whoever is waiting for you on the other side of that door.

You are capable. You are wonderful. You have more strength than you realize.

Sometimes life is scary, and sad, and depressing. It’s true – you know that. I know that. We all know that. We’ve all felt it, too. But life is also beautiful and welcoming, and thrilling, and absolutely magnificent – and you cannot get to the magnificent parts if you do not get out of bed.

So take a deep breath. Yank back those covers. Put one foot on the floor, and then the other. And then keep going.

You can do it.

You have so much living to do.