There is a quote that goes like this: “if there are no ups and downs in life, it means that you are dead.” It’s bitter, but it is unfortunately the ugly truth. Sometimes life gets tough, but God made you strong enough to face these tough obstacles in your life and overcome them. That said, life doesn’t always go the way that you plan or “your way” and when this happens you truly deserve to hear more than someone saying “everything will be okay” “stay strong” or “keep your head up.” Sometimes it is the easiest thing to say because you may not be good with words or you may not even understand what the person is even going through. I know you truly want to help, but saying these words to someone who is struggling or is in a dark place is not going to help them feel the least bit better.

You deserve to hear how beautiful you are as a person, inside and out. There have been times when you put that incredulous smile of yours on your face during your weakest and lowest moments, times when you could have chosen to hide away and isolate yourself from the world. But your smile lights up the whole room, and it’d be even brighter if it was real. You deserve to be seen as the beautiful human being that you are and recognized and applauded for how far you have come in this precious life of yours. You have survived a lot and it has only made you stronger.

There are days that you struggle to get out of bed, but you pushed yourself through anyway and made that day the best it could possibly be. You can get through anything. You have the strength inside you to conquer your every fear and to strive for greatness even in the eyes of defeat. So everything you are going through right now, it is nothing in the grand scheme of things. You are your strongest warrior; that battle you're fighting, you've already won. Find the confidence within yourself to pick yourself up and choose happiness. You have the strength to fight the hard times in life. Now you need the strength to find happiness when life is trying to fight you for it.

I have gotten to a point in my life that I am done hearing the words "everything will be okay" because it seems like things never are. Things keep falling apart. Spilling my heart out to someone to hear them say "everything will be okay" brings me much frustration. This words are just simply not enough and are words that I do not want to hear. How are these four words supposed to make anything better? They're not. It is a lie because if the rest of your life was gonna be "okay," it wouldn't be a good life. So next time you hear it, think to yourself that, this life will be better than “okay” and that I just need to keep pulling forward. This phrase that seems inspiring and helpful is the exact opposite and should not be used anymore. I know I am guilty of saying them, but with all, I have been through and continue to struggle through, I have found these words to only make things harder.

There are moments in all our lives that we seek reassurance during the difficult times of our lives. Well here is your reassurance, here are the words you need to hear. You ARE strong enough to do this. You ARE beautiful inside and out. You deserve to smile. So smile, because you WILL get through this. The best days of your life are coming. Have confidence in yourself that you CAN take on this life because you are so truly amazing, and do not let the difficult times in life make you think differently or any less of yourself.