I am a very open person when it comes to my struggles or struggles that my family has faced. I am always asked, "how do you keep moving? How do you really know that everything will be OK?"

And my answer is as simple as it gets, "without struggle, there can be no progress."

My mother used to say this phrase almost every day of my childhood. As a kid I just thought, as a single mother raising three kids alone, you have to tell yourself something to get you through the day right? Wrong. As I have gotten older, this saying has brought so much light to my life.

I have this habit of asking almost every person I meet, "how did you get to where you are?" I typically mean this from a career perspective but I always leave it open to interpretation.

Every response I have ever received proves that nobody really knows how they will get to where they are going.

Nobody knows the struggles they will face, the people they will meet, or the lessons they will learn. Almost every person went for their undergrad in a field they aren't in now. Or went back to school after their kids were in high school. Or had an abrupt life change and realized they deserved more. Every person is capable of great things.

But I believe every person has to go through struggles in order to appreciate those great things.

My mother, the definition of perseverance, taught that to me. Her mother died at two. She then bounced around in foster homes, dealt with teen pregnancy, lost her adopted father. She walked away from countless toxic relationships, lost a child, got divorced. She lost her brother, got married. Then she almost lost another child but this time to addiction. But despite ALL of this, she still thrives every day. I have no idea how she does it, but damn does she.

My brother, who is learning the definition of perseverance, also taught me this. Lived majority of his life fatherless or with one that didn't care at all. Struggling with an undiagnosed anxiety disorder. And almost completely lost himself and his family to drug addiction. Even after he was laying on the floor, face down of rock bottom, he never gave up. He still doesn't. I watched my brother completely recreate himself. Yet every day he still gets up and he still keeps going. It's not easy, but he does it.

I struggle every day with mental illnesses. That's no secret. I am open about my struggles because I have seen the impact it can make on someone else. I have experienced that impact on myself.

Every person struggles. That's no secret.

I could go on for days about the experiences I have heard and witnessed. All of the struggles and all of the rises. But I won't. Instead, I want you to think about your own.

But never forget, that your struggle has a purpose.

Nothing in life comes easy. So get up, get out, and make it happen. You can do this. And if you think you can't, think of the person you were the last time you thought you couldn't. Think of how much you have changed and grown since then.

This life isn't easy, but I promise every day you will be given something that will make you grateful you got out of bed that day, all you have to do, is get out of bed.