You Can ALWAYS Turn Around

So it's a little after 10pm and I just got off the phone with a dear friend of mine. Without going in to details, she is just at the end of her rope - feeling like at every turn there is another challenge, another obstacle and more chaos that is holding her back and she needs to overcome.

As much as we all might like to at some point in our life of another, nobody can go back and start a new beginning (There is no reset button on life), but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

I'm one of those friends that wants to help fix things. I want to be there for those that I love; to give strength and encouragement - to let whoever it is know that they are not alone in their struggles. But at the end of the day, it is not up to me to take the reigns of someone else's life.

Every person has four endowments - self awareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom...the power to choose, to respond, to change.

How many times have you heard, or heck maybe even said,

"I just don't know what to do."

"I can't do this anymore."

"I give up."

You know what, we have ALL been there - and that is OK. The key is to be able to pick up the pieces and move forward. I'm not saying it will happen in the blink of an eye or overnight or will be easy, but eventually in the process you will find your own strength. Through the careful hand-holding of your own spirit, through recognizing, honoring and expressing your feelings, by nurturing your body as the vessel that holds your spirit in the web of life, you will discover that you have, without your consciously knowing it, developed the inner sturdiness from which you can find fulfillment again.

Trust me, I KNOW, it is not easy to live life sometimes and face the world with a smile when you're crying inside. It takes a lot of courage to reach down inside yourself. HOLD ON to that strength that's still there and KNOW that tomorrow is a new day with new possibilities. If you can just hold on long enough to see this through, you'll come out a new person - stronger, with more understanding and with a new pride in yourself from knowing you made it.

Remember, there is no happiness in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.