We all have those days, weeks — shoot — sometimes even one of those years.

This particular time, I was having one of those rough few months.

I won't go into specifics of the problem, because you'll be here reading all day, but let's just say I felt like nothing could go right in my life, like no one really cared and all I could think about was how my life could be so much better.

How I could be one of the richest people in America with the best car, a husband on my arms, three kids and a 10th book coming out in a series that's the best thing since "Harry Potter."

That would be perfect; I would have everything I ever wanted and be happy.

But would I really?

We think that the things we don't have are the things we really need and don't realize what we already have is a blessing compared to others.

That was easier to preach than practice these past few months. I was struggling with believing that I could trust in anyone to help me after a few people whom I expected to help me let me down continuously.

That's another thing — expectations. I have these huge expectations of how my life will turn out, how people are supposed to treat me and how things are supposed to go in the next few seconds after something I think is wrong happens.

I can dream and fantasize about how I want things to go my way all day, but it won't matter once I catch up to reality. Or it catches up to me.

And that's the painful truth. I don't know about you, but I worry myself sick thinking that things will turn out how my expectations say they will. I think I'm the best person for any job, so people should trust me. But what reason have I given them to trust me? Or I can say that I am the best friend anyone could ever have, but my view is biased because I see myself different than others do, and that can be both good and bad.

To make my ordeal worse, I felt like my problems were not real problems to others when I talked about them. And who am I to say that my problems are bigger than someone else's? Everyone is dealing with their own rough patches and it affects us all differently.

But, of course, sometimes we don't really care about the problems of others because the selfish thoughts of only wanting people to care for you and your problems may lurk in.

I'm not afraid to admit that I can be selfish. We all can be sometimes. But I think it takes admitting that you are selfish as the first step to fixing that problem.

When I feel like the world is against me, like no one seems to want to hear me out or grab my hand and walk me through those rough patches in my life, I have to remember that I can and have to help myself first. That I can't make myself appear completely helpless in order to get the attention from others I expect. Acting all dramatically to get attention is never the answer.

Crying while watching a sad movie and eating a pint of ice cream is. And then get up the next day to try again. Tomorrow is always a new day.