My dearest,
Today, you were completely different from what I had imagined.
Before entering that room, you already knew hardship might await, yet you bravely walked in and confronted it. Your strength in that moment inspires me deeply.
Then, you left that room, tears streaming down your face. I knew you were falling apart.
Remember that even the bravest among us need moments of vulnerability. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed or shed tears.
As we sat in the car on the way home, you couldn’t breathe. Your heart felt like a thousand rough stones were pressing down on it. You were trapped between so many responsibilities that you couldn’t escape. You just sobbed.
You told me you had to cling to everything you had to avoid being swept away.
You asked me if you were the only one in the world going through this. You asked me if your situation was hopeless.
My friend, I am sure that somewhere in the world right now, someone is asking the same question as you. Many “someones”. You are absolutely not alone.
You said that life had been so cruel. “Life can be unfair sometimes, and the weight of hardship can be numbing”. You didn’t feel anything anymore. You were not happy but not too sad either, because, you said, after all this, what could be worse?
Take a deep breath in and exhale slowly. Close your eyes and feel the air of the eye of the storm. Visualize the calmness within you.
A storm worsens because we are trying to fight and run away from it. We want to escape from this situation. Running away and fighting back only makes us more painful and beaten.
If the storm can’t go away, why do we run away?
You’ve probably heard this many times before, but the only way to get through a storm is to go through it.
It’s too noisy and chaotic, too scary. I know. I do believe the people who go through the storm are the bravest. But my dear, peace lies in the very moment of greatest pain and chaos. When you feel like you’ve reached your limit, that’s often when your inner strength blossoms the most.
Easy moments don’t mean anything. Our life is defined by how we handle ourselves in the heart of the storm.
Walk in calmly, and be brave to the end. After all these devastations, we will know that there will always be peaceful days ahead. When you feel peaceful in the midst of insecurity, your life starts to truly flourish.
“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
Haruki Murakami
Perhaps only those who have ever gone through the storm, like you and me, can genuinely and profoundly understand this quote.
With deepest care,
Jasmine.
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