An Open Letter To The Woman Who Showed Me Life’s Possibilities At My Lowest

When you think of the word “possibility” what comes to mind? For me, it not only reminds me of what can happen and what has the potential to come, it reminds me of an event in my life four years ago when I felt like nothing was possible. I was just about ready to throw in the towel and give up on life.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has felt this way.

Trapped.

Stuck.

Dead inside.

Like the situation that you’re swimming through at this very moment has no possibility of ever changing? Your existence has no purpose? As if all you will ever feel is despondent, broken, and filled with a never-ending sense of hopelessness?

I’ve been there.

Let me ask you this: before you fell into this state of nothingness, did you ever recall a time where you brought out the best in someone or reminded them of their potential? Or the endless possibilities that life has to offer when they are living a life in the mindset that everything is impossible? 

You may be thinking “Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?” Well, let me tell you.

Four years ago, at the young and naïve age of 20, I was already going through a divorce. I thought that my life was over,  that the end of all things good was near. Everything in my world had been taken from me in what seemed like an instant. I felt like I had absolutely nowhere to turn, no one to talk to, and no way out.

I truly believe that God places people into our lives at the perfect time, whether it’s for a season for a lifetime, He has a reason. Amanda was one of those people.

I met Amanda just three months prior to this earth-shattering event in my life. She didn’t know me that well and I thought that there was no way she cared for me that much. 

I was wrong.

She was there for me. She showed me a compassion that not even my truest friends were able to show me during the worst time of my life. Friends that I had known for years had turned their backs on me; yet this beautiful woman who had her own life to deal with, a family, and a job, opened her arms up to me and helped me.

She gave me hope when I had none left, she showed me strength when I couldn’t find my own, she saw my worth when I felt like mine had been taken. She reminded me of the endless possibilities life had yet to offer 20-year old me. She spoke life into me, reminding me of the potential I had, that just because I had a setback, this didn’t mean my impending accomplishments were no longer in reach. She reminded me that although I felt broken, it was only temporary. She helped me heal; and for that, I feel indebted to her.

Today we still stand together as friends, four years later, and it’s as if our roles have reversed. She feels all the pain, agony, and aching I felt back then. She has little to no will to continue on. Her hope is lost. But as I am writing this, I hope to remind her of the woman she was many years ago. I hope to remind her that even though she might feel this way now, it is only temporary, if you can remember yourself at your highest state, when you were there to hold out your hand for someone else and pull them out of the deep hole they had fallen into, you will see that the possibilities of life are still there for you too, just like they were for me.

You see, you have already embodied hope, strength, love, compassion, and the will to push forward. You’ve already personified the heart of a fighter. You’ve already brought healing to someone else.

And if you can do that for me, what makes you think that you can’t do that for you?

My dear friend, you are resilient. You were then, and you are now. As Kristin Armstrong said, “It’s not only moving that creates new starting points, sometimes all it takes is a subtle shift in perspective, an opening of the mind, an intentional pause and reset, or a new route to start to see new options and possibilities.”

Yes, life might be hard. You may feel like your road is ending, but this new life path is opening up millions of new possibilities for you. Just like life did for me. Let the possibilities inspire you, more than the obstacles discourage you.

Remember who you are, remember who you’ve been, and embrace all of it, because you, my sweet friend, have so much potential and so many possibilities sitting in front of you; free your mind from all of the negative strongholds that bind you. Free your mind from everything he told you that you were, and who he told you that you couldn’t be, and go be the woman that you’ve always been.