Remember This When The Sky Is Falling

I’ve heard all there is to hear when it comes to corny life advice, and I can honestly say that nothing ever said has given me any type of reaffirmation to continue trudging through life.

But it’s true: your worst day is only 24 hours. 

Your life isn’t as bad as your anxiety is, and that voice that’s constantly telling you how easy it is to fail is just scared of all the great things that you were put on this earth to do. You are a force, a firecracker. Your words aren’t meant to be easily swallowed, and they might never be. That’s okay.

Your worth isn’t the collective thoughts of those who were too weak to understand you, so when it seems like you are seeing life in a different color, it’s because you were meant to create something new. That’s a beautiful gift.

When the sky is falling, it’s just the universe adjusting for you. 

That’s a beautiful thing. 

Here’s my shitty life advice to you on the days where you can’t hold up the universe on your own:

you can rebuild any walls that crumble,

you can replant any flowers that are uprooted,

and your hands can wipe away any tears.

You are capable of more than you could ever realize.

I’ve struggled with inner strength for a long time. Less and less have I believed in myself, and more and more have I searched for the validation in strangers.

I still can’t look in the mirror and honestly believe that the person looking back at me is worthy of the time of day, but I get closer every time I see her face. She’s become more than just a reflection. Now, she’s a part of me, and she’s no longer ignorable. I can’t push her off and pretend she’s not there.

When I see her now, I see the freckle above her eye, the unevenness of her smile, and the inevitable messiness of her hair.

I see the things I used to call her flaws.

I don’t see her the same way that I used to. She’s not submissive anymore. She doesn’t believe me when I tell her how ugly, how worthless, and how unbelievably carelessly she was made. She instead tells me about the way Rhett’s hands feel on her back when he gives her a hug. She tells me about how Kameron’s laugh brightens her smile. She tells me about how much life has changed her.

She’s not the same, and neither am I.

Life is hard enough without your biggest enemy being what you see in the mirror. Make friends with her. Let her in. Trust me, she’ll be the best sidekick you can imagine.

Life’s an impossible battle to fight alone.

Remember that all flowers can be replanted and all walls can be rebuilt, even when it seems like there’s no hope at all. It’s never too late to take back that one thing you wish you never said to that mirror.

I hate you.

I don’t even recognize you anymore.

Why can’t you just get out of my life?

That girl took so much abuse. I tormented her every chance I got. She was my punching bag. She was the thing I took out every ounce of my anger on. She was the strength I’d been searching so long to find, and she was staring right at me.

After all this time, I never thought I’d love that girl again, but a flower bloomed and I handed her a vine. She hasn’t let go yet.