Many times, things in our lives make it extremely hard for us to see the "light at the end of the tunnel", as they say. I also realize how cliché that quote is, and rather than helping, it tends to put us in a weird mood, especially if we are struggling. However silly it may seem, this phrase does relate to so many of the struggles that people face in life, and it truly does reflect more than the face value of the words being said...
1) Often our struggles are so severe that light may not feel like it’s there. Here is where you come in, you’re sitting in your room, outside, or on your phone, when you begin to zone out into your own little world. This is the key moments to begin to things break down into the puzzle pieces that make up the situation. Whatever the problem we are facing, it could’ve happened yesterday, hours ago, or just a few minutes before we begin to find ourselves in a state of overthinking. One of the first steps to being mindful is identifying the problem. “Why am I overthinking this situation?” Then we must look at whether the situation is worth mulling over, and is it holding us back from being present. We question whether it is an important learning moment, or if we are simply spending too much time on it. Remember how precious your time is. You are, in fact, more than that situation and you deserve to be able to focus on the here and now.
2) Being in the moment is one of the hardest things we face as humans in this chaotic world. Many of us face a problem without first allowing our mind to quiet down. This prevents us from looking up from our own little world and finding things to shed light on, no matter how small. Maybe today all you can focus on is that although you may not have wanted to, you got out of bed and went to class, or work, or even to just made yourself breakfast. That’s a milestone in my book, and it should be in yours too. These are the little things that we should find in our lives to let one situation hold us back wouldn't be fair.
3) Our time is truly precious and I hope you believe it as much as I do. I have seen so many young lives altered by many different types of illnesses, some requiring things such as chemo or antidepressants. Both things are extremely serious, they both require a fight that needs to come from within, and hope that it will all be better with time. Time that moves by us so quickly that we never quite get to grab all of the good days. This world is built on the idea that there is never enough time in the day to get what we need to do for that day done. We as people living in this crazy world think that many times it is made up of the idea that we should finish that project, we should’ve done what we needed to for a friend, we should’ve done this and that. Here is where one of my favorite quotes comes in, "Do not ever should on yourself."
4) Finally, we can’t physically and mentally do all we need to do sometimes. Sometimes we must skip the gym to go to bed and get the rest we deserve. Sometimes you don’t finish your homework because you have been working on it for the last six hours. It is okay to do these things, because our bodies need the love too. Our minds need the rest from our everyday hassles, things that are simply out of our control, and sometimes even things within our control. It is important for us to treat our body like a temple, because our bodies have carried us with bumps and bruises for so long. We have made it so far, with scars, both mentally and physically and we still have persisted even through our darkest of days. Remember that not all things are as important as they may seem, sometimes we need to take time to rest so we can successfully fulfill what we need to for the next day.
Being in a rut doesn’t always mean that there is no positive light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel may be the longest tunnel you have ever walked, but you’re still walking. You still are doing what you can, and that’s all you can ask of yourself. Your feet have carried the weight of worlds at times and you’re still walking on them, because you are strong enough to handle this life. If anything, being in a rut, makes you one of the strongest humans alive, because although it feels hopeless now, it isn’t. You are resilient, kind, and amazing inside and out; and no one can take that away from you, not even yourself.
