From time to time, my mind goes into a dark place. The reasons why are not important – well they are, but since I only blog about them anonymously, in a whole other place, they are not important for the purposes of this blog. Suffice it to say that sometimes I get plunged into this darkness, and it can be a struggle to come out.  Many late nights and early mornings find me wandering restlessly around the house while everyone else is sleeping, trying to outpace the darkness and bring myself back to – well, at the risk of sounding like a hippy, back to a happy place.

Sometimes, when I feel bad, I have an almost irresistible compulsion to go for a hectic run, no matter what time it is. It’s a compulsion I have to fight, of course, because it wouldn’t be safe. Even in the midst of the darkness, I never completely lose my common sense.

At the end of the day, what gets me through is the fact that despite this periodic bleakness, I am a natural optimist. There was only one time in my life – a long time ago – when I could truly say that I lost all hope. Apart from that one terrible time, I have always lived by the credo that no matter what is going on, this too shall pass. I have a permanent assumption that all bad times are temporary. Sometimes they may last for longer than I would think reasonable, but they always – eventually – pass. And when they do, I am hopefully a stronger and wiser person for it.

At times my life has taken the scenic route. There has been rough terrain along the way, and sometimes I have fallen down and I haven’t been able to get up right away. But I’ve never been one to just lay down on the side of the trail and give up. I’ve gathered my strength and forced myself to surge forward, sometimes at a sprint, other times at a snail’s pace. As long as I am moving forward, I am going in the right direction.

The thing is, when I get through those rough patches, the view I get at the end of it can be absolutely spectacular.

No matter what makes me fall, it’s always – ALWAYS – worth my while to pick myself up, dust myself off, and keep going.

I just can’t seem to shed the baggage I collect along the way.

From time to time, my mind goes into a dark place. The reasons why are not important – well they are, but since I only blog about them anonymously, in a whole other place, they are not important for the purposes of this blog. Suffice it to say that sometimes I get plunged into this darkness, and it can be a struggle to come out.  Many late nights and early mornings find me wandering restlessly around the house while everyone else is sleeping, trying to outpace the darkness and bring myself back to – well, at the risk of sounding like a hippy, back to a happy place.

Sometimes, when I feel bad, I have an almost irresistible compulsion to go for a hectic run, no matter what time it is. It’s a compulsion I have to fight, of course, because it wouldn’t be safe. Even in the midst of the darkness, I never completely lose my common sense.

At the end of the day, what gets me through is the fact that despite this periodic bleakness, I am a natural optimist. There was only one time in my life – a long time ago – when I could truly say that I lost all hope. Apart from that one terrible time, I have always lived by the credo that no matter what is going on, this too shall pass. I have a permanent assumption that all bad times are temporary. Sometimes they may last for longer than I would think reasonable, but they always – eventually – pass. And when they do, I am hopefully a stronger and wiser person for it.

At times my life has taken the scenic route. There has been rough terrain along the way, and sometimes I have fallen down and I haven’t been able to get up right away. But I’ve never been one to just lay down on the side of the trail and give up. I’ve gathered my strength and forced myself to surge forward, sometimes at a sprint, other times at a snail’s pace. As long as I am moving forward, I am going in the right direction.

The thing is, when I get through those rough patches, the view I get at the end of it can be absolutely spectacular.

No matter what makes me fall, it’s always – ALWAYS – worth my while to pick myself up, dust myself off, and keep going.

I just can’t seem to shed the baggage I collect along the way.