Reasons to Keep Going

A pep talk, in case you need it.

It’s a dreary day in NYC — the kind of day where the chill seems to touch your bones — and I’m craving the written equivalent of a warm cup of soup, a hug in the form of a sentence.

If you’re going through a hard time, if you’re encountering doubt or resistance, if you’re frightened or anxious or overwhelmed or exhausted — in other words, if you’re human — I hope this may help.

In the event you’d like to listen to a pep talk instead, the audio version is attached.

Reasons to Keep Going
(When it feels damn near impossible.)

Because you are here, against all odds, on a mostly blue planet suspended in a vast and unknowable sky.

Because one day, you’ll get to tell the story of how you made it. How you were brave and resilient, despite it all.

Because your vision deserves as much respect as anyone else’s.

Because you care. Feeling heartbroken, enraged, depleted, burned out — simply feeling — stems from care. That is a beautiful thing. The most beautiful thing. Don’t lose touch with it.

Because the fortune cookie said, “Life always gets harder near the summit,” and maybe it’s right.

Because your actions can honor those who came before, those you miss, those who are unable, those whose words and hopes and wishes live on in what you bring to the world.

Because maybe there is a reason, an order, a why.

Because you matter, likely more than you know. Think of all the people who’ve made a difference in your life, in ways big and small — the early boss who took a chance on you, the teacher or coach or friend’s parent who encouraged you, the passing compliment delivered right when you needed it, the person who held the door when you’d just about given up on humanity. You’ve had that effect on someone, too.

Because puppies. And their round puppy tummies and not-yet-grown-into-them paws.

Because life is full of plot twists, and sometimes when you least expect it, you’re launched into one that’s better than you can imagine.

Because the sun shows up every morning. And the world keeps spinning. When all else is lost, there is hope in this kind of consistency.

Because you’ve made it this far.

Because every October, clouds of monarch butterflies migrate nearly 3,000 miles, their paper-thin wings using air currents to travel distances rivaled by commercial jets.

Because this too shall pass.

Because none of it ever made sense in the first place, even in the moments when we thought it did.

Because throwing your hands up is exactly what they — the naysayers, the demons, The Man, the struggle — want. But the question is, what do you want?

Because if you stop for a moment and get really quiet, there is something that whispers from the deepest part of you. It will move you to tears, of love or rage or truth or beauty. And it bids you to keep showing up, keep trying, keep fighting.

Because if you look closely enough, inside every flower there is a story about the winter that came before it.

Because there’s a lot more to the story, but it’s yet to be written. And the wording is up to you.

As always, thanks for reading. I’ll see you on Sunday. x