And there will be moments when you will feel helpless.

And there will be moments when you will feel helpless. It will be ugly and heartbreaking. No amount of kind words or effort will be able to get you out of that swamp. You will feel like you are stuck on a broken record. People will say that it’s just a phase, and you will wonder if there’s anything you could do to help yourself.

The nights will be sleepless, tears falling, soaking your pillow. The days – full of daydreaming and self-hatred. Breathing will become heavier; just getting through each day will be one hell of an excruciating task. In those moments, the ones that gradually kill your hopes inside, believe in yourself. I know what I’m saying is difficult, but I want to remind you that phases aren’t meant to last your entire life. This, too, is another part. Another part that you have to get through. Some are longer than others. All these small phases you go through in life make you aware of certain things.

You become closer to the person you are. You understand things about yourself and the world that your classroom and parents have never taught you. You find fragility and kindness in unfamiliar places, and you find strength in yourself at the moments you thought you’d die in. Phases are like seasons. Just when you feel that winters will never end, and you will have to forever hide your numb fingers in a glove, you experience March and remember that it was just a brutal season. It wasn’t supposed to last. And when you find yourself eating ice-cream before sleeping, staying indoors in the AC, wondering if the temperature will ever come down, you experience October and realize that everything has a part. Nothing can last forever. I hope you treat these parts of your life as seasons, too. All that can help you to get through it is the belief that it will end and until then, you have to survive it. Life is a bundle of all things good and bad. Sometimes, it even becomes difficult to understand the difference between them both.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭—𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘈𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘨𝘭𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.

Surviving it, finding yourself, and believing in yourself when you have no hope—that’s what living is. For each one of us.