To tell you that this semester thus far has been a breeze is to blatantly lie to your face. It has been a rollercoaster. For a human being afraid of heights, this one has been nothing but a downhill battle with a fair share of straight aways and slight peaks back up. The only acceptable concept I can wrap my head around with rollercoasters is that they do not hit rock bottom.

That is what keeps me hanging on for dear life.

We truly have no say in what happens next sometimes. Life takes us on a strange journey through thick and thin to places we’ve never imagined us being in. It is during those times where we get the option to make the most of it or hide for dear life. We do have a say in what we make of it though.

This semester has thrown me onto the ground, shattering me into millions and millions of pieces. Like a thousand piece puzzle that you don’t know where to start with, I felt helpless. Until I realized the best way to pick up all the pieces is to start somewhere.

You do not always know where to begin but it is trying something that makes all the difference. If you do not start somewhere, you will spend the rest of your life in pieces swallowing in self pity. What you must remember is that although people say they are there for you, it is you and only you that can pick yourself back up. People can help, but it is your two legs that have to untangle yourself from the ground and take those first steps back up the mountain.

I am not where I want to be but I am somewhere and that is my start. With time, I will improve and I’ll get there. It is the mindset that gets you there, the motivation to that keeps you going and the drive that keeps you from stopping.

Even on your worst of days, you still make something out of it. A famous saying says goes “Even your toughest days only last 24 hours.”

It is in those 24 hours where you keep yourself going. It is you that dusts off your shoulders and fights on.

Yes, we could easily have this all be effortless; getting the chance to take the easy way out and have no stress. It is the stress that makes us who we are.

I am slowly learning how to fight it all. A busy bee, we just engulf ourselves in our work and never stop but that is what we ought to do.

Some days we feel dead but then another days comes and we feel re-born. It's all an ongoing cycle.

Keep fighting, keep smiling, keep riding the rollercoaster.

Do not give up now. The road ahead of you looks tricky and hurtful but you will make it through. You have to.

This is your journey. Embrace every moment. Don’t let the bad times overrule the good. The power is in your hands.