What I’ve discovered is that most people in any given community are there for the same reasons I am, to feel a sense of belonging. They’re hoping to find genuine connections, to share knowledge and interests, and create lasting friendships.

In the intervening two-plus decades, I have experienced countless emotions, thoughts, reflections, regrets and losses, as well as victories, successes, lessons and blessings.

If everything in life seems to work against you, or you are experiencing a difficult loss in your life and nothing is going right at the moment, taking a big breath and a big step back to regain your stability might be just what you need.

While everyone’s rock bottom may look differently, the feeling of being at rock bottom is probably very similar. It’s that feeling of utter incompetence and unworthiness, that you are as low and insignificant as a pile of rubble and you have no idea how to come back up.

The subject of forgiveness comes up often in conversation, but I find that when it comes to the details of what that truly entails, what that process feels like is not actually talked about.

Once I accepted that I will sometimes have dark and negative thoughts, I felt relieved to just be. I understood they don’t define me.

Forgive me, children,

in my stained-glassed pride
I tried to hold us all together,
masking a disfigurement of peace—

However, emotional meltdowns and life events do not stick to a planned schedule, and feeling depressed during this season can be lonely and frustrating because the environment seems too cheerful for anyone to understand.

When you experience life by means of only happiness, fear, doubt, and insecurities become so obscured that you no longer pay attention to them. They become ever so insignificant because your focus on creating happiness is larger than life itself.

Positive thinking is motivation from a place of authenticity that supports your flow, lifts up your energy, and propels you forward.

Life events are arbitrary and most of us don’t get to practice each scenario over and over again until we get it right. We are often put in a position to respond to whatever is thrown at us unexpectedly.