Keep Going: It Will Be Okay
Have you ever experienced one of those life-shattering, soul-crushing moments - the kind where you're sobbing on the bathroom floor, convinced the pain will never end? Maybe it was the first time you lost a job, were bullied in school, went through a painful breakup or divorce, or experienced the death of a loved one. Or maybe it was something less dramatic on the outside, but deeply impactful on the inside, an emotional scar that still lingers.
We all walk different paths, but one thing unites us: none of us are immune to heartbreak, hardship, or unexpected change. Life, in all its beauty, is also inevitably full of difficult and defining moments.
What shapes your life most isn't whether these moments happen, it’s how you respond to them. One of the greatest lessons my parents passed down to me was simple but powerful: If you keep going, it will be okay.
I’m sure this lesson started when I was just a toddler scraping my knee after falling down, but it carried me through so much more. Not making the volleyball team in seventh grade. My first heartbreak. Getting fired from my first full-time job after university. Each time I thought I couldn’t recover, but I did. And every time, I grew stronger.
Hardship is unavoidable. But staying stuck in it is optional.
Pain that goes unprocessed can turn into identity. We've all met someone who’s remained chained to an old story: the woman still bitter 15 years after a divorce, convinced all men are immature jerks. Or the millennial who saw the COVID-era housing boom and decided homeownership was impossible, resigning to a belief that there’s no point in trying.
In both cases, the story becomes a life sentence that is draining on a soul level. And the worst part? It’s a sentence we give ourselves. The truth is, we have the power to set ourselves free. No one else is holding the key; we are.
So how do you begin to shift?
Start by asking honest questions:
What do I need to heal in order to move on?
What lesson is this experience offering me?
What action steps can I take to move toward a better future?
Who do I want to become on the other side of this?
How will I choose to show up moving forward?
Reflection paired with responsibility gives you the power to transform your story. You shift from being a passive passenger to the driver of your own life. Even when it’s hard, especially when it’s hard, if you keep moving forward, things will be okay.
As Dory from Finding Nemo wisely said: Just keep swimming.
With love,
Steph Wosik
