The Next Time You Feel Hopeless, Read This

We are never stuck in life. Not in our ways of thinking and feeling, not in our work, not in relationships, not in old homes or in noisy city apartments.

There is always a voice reminding us, sometimes convincing us, that we have the option to quit, to fall straight to the floor and bury ourselves under our own weight—the weight of our disappointments in the face of our desires, the weight of our fear and hopelessness.

But there is always another voice. A second, solid, self-assured voice that tells us that there is so much left. That we are stuck only because we have fixed our gaze on one point, temporarily blind to the multiple perspectives from which any situation can be seen. This voice nudges away our negativity, reminding us that life truly can be entirely different, that we don’t have to feel the same way we did yesterday or even the way we’ve felt for the last 20 years. We can become radically different human beings and learn to occupy a completely different reality.

But it’s up to us, and thankfully so. It’s up to us to trust that second voice, because the option to fall and stay there will always exist. No matter how far you go, you’re always the same distance from the ditch, but no matter how close the first voice gets, it is incredible how far you can go by simply putting one foot in front of the other.

There is so much life left. Keep the possibilities of life close to your heart and soul. Keep your openness to life and quietly dismiss the voice telling you it’s too hard, or where you want to go is too far, or that it’s too late. That voice will always nag at you no matter where you find yourself. Thank it for letting you know your options and choose to live life through the lens of possibility, from a place of expanse, not abiding by the small and uncreative voice repeatedly telling you there’s nothing left.

Because there is so much life left.