Often times, life can be hard. In fact, really hard, to the point that a fire is raging in your soul and you feel as though you may explode. You want to rip out your hair and scream at the world because you don't understand how YOU could be in such a predicament. You shut people out, your friends and family say "keep your head up, it'll get better." But what if it doesn't; what if it never gets better and the spinning feeling you get when the stress engulfs your every thought and emotion overwhelms all of your senses and you're frozen. You can no longer function, numb to the world and everything around you; but at the same time you are fragile and any slip up may send you cascading over the edge. How do you keep going when you feel like there is absolutely no way? How do you walk around every day, dragging your feet in a zombie-like trance, attempting to fit into the society around you? How do you plaster a smile on your face when life has given you every reason to be sullen?
The answer is, there is no easy way. There is no simple solution to overcome the demons pulling you back from your hopes and dreams, your life. The pat on the back and friendly smile from your friend will not keep you pushing onward. The absolutely only thing that will keep you moving forward... is yourself. A positive mindset makes all the difference in the world, but that alone is not enough. Things will always get harder before they get better. People will tell you to keep pushing, but sometimes you have to do the opposite. Sometimes you have to completely abandon your struggles, cast them away and focus on your mental state for a moment. Lose track of time, break down, break things, cry, and eat all of the ice cream you can find. Drive down a gravel road with all the windows rolled down, your hair blowing around madly, and scream to the music at the top of your lungs. Find a nature trail and run until you can't feel your feet and you might collapse.
Find something, anything positive that will get you away from your situation, and then see what happens. Your mindset will clear, and you'll be able to pick up all of the broken pieces of yourself scattered across the floor. You can focus on the task now at hand that you have been putting off; maybe you just got fired from a job and have no way to pay this month's rent, or you're slamming your head against the desk because you know the chemistry exam will eat you alive tomorrow, or you simply just can't seem to do anything right and the world seems to turn against you. No matter the size or depth of the struggle, know that you will get passed it.
Understand that everyone struggles, and even though you are hurting, someone is in a rut that is 100 times deeper than your own. Recall a previous time in your life when you felt a similar feeling of exhaustion and defeat. Strive off of those memories and use them to push you in a forward momentum, making any potential struggle a thing of the past. Laugh in the face of your struggles and understand that any bumps in the road of life were put there for a reason. It may not make any sense at the time, but eventually you will look back and realize it changed you. Your struggles formed you into the person you are and forced you to test every limit that you possess. Maybe it wasn't always a positive outcome and you feel as though it damaged you in some way. Nevertheless, it showed that your strength and determination forced you to combat against the war on your life, and allowed you to obtain more understanding for yourself and compassion for other peoples' struggles.
