A Word of Encouragement

Hey,

 I know you are wondering if you'll ever get to where you are going. Perhaps you took a few wrong turns back there and you can’t seem to find your way back. Maybe you are at a crossroads and can’t pick between east or west; or perhaps you are like me, stuck on a long stretch, nothing to see for what seems like a million miles. You keep stopping, and starting; sometimes you sit on the side-road and cry, other times you get off the road and try to make a path, only to find your way back to the same spot. You look behind you and it looks as bleak as what is in front of you. The only difference is you have walked that road already.

It's both uncomfortable and scary isn't it? Walking, not knowing if you should have picked a different road or telling yourself you took the long way. Some days this long stretch isn't so bad. You are up for the adventure--you are confident about where you are going and even see unexpected things. But most days you are aware of everything: your constant walking, sore feet, and your circumstances not changing. You are hustling, and putting in the time, the money. And for a moment your plans look like they are about to take off once you reach the next rest stop, but you are forced to keep walking because you realize that that stop is not for you. None of the stops are ever for you. 

 Sometimes you stay a little too long because you just want something constant, predictable. Safe. But it doesn't feel quite right. There's an inexplicable yearning that reminds you that you don't belong there. Not here. It's only a rest stop. But you are tired of walking. Tired of trying. Just tired.

I don't know how much farther you have to go. Perhaps you are almost there. Or probably you still have a million miles to go. But just know that just as some have finally made it to their destination, you will make it to yours.  Don't force yourself to remain where it is uncomfortably comfortable; where you silence that yearning because you are tired. And lonely. And afraid.  Certainly you have met some folks along the way who got tired. Who got very scared. Who speak ominously of a road they feared to take. Who only see, just like you, a long winding road that demands so much and seemingly rewards so little. But if it doesn't yet look right, feel right; if the company leaves you uncertain, and the environment unsettles you, I urge you to keep going.  Keep fighting. Keep reaching. Keep trying. Keep practicing.  It will get better, even though everything looks bleak. Bad weather always passes. Even the sun breaks out on the most frigid of days.

Above all, don’t allow the lies to add extra weight on your already long journey: lies that you should have already travelled farther than you have thus far. It is your journey after all: unique based on your decisions, mistakes, your company, your inspirations. Again, maybe you took a wrong turn or several wrong turns; perhaps you tarried at some spots than others; and maybe you got lost for a while and only managed to start on your way now. Either way, your journey is your own. It may be littered with a balance of good and bad, or perhaps only broken glass line this long high way, but you are getting there, making it, day by day.

I know you will make it, if you don’t give up. 
 Don’t forget yourself throughout this journey. Take care of yourself. Not every pit stop is a safe haven. Not every travel partner will be with you forever. Not every piece of knowledge is meant to benefit you.

Don't give up. You are going to get there.

Don't give up.