Sometimes it feels like no matter what you do, no matter what you say, no matter how hard you try, you can’t catch a break. You try to have a positive mindset, you try your hardest to not let one bad thing ruin your entire day, but sometimes it just isn’t enough.

Maybe it feels like you’re drowning and you’re trying your hardest to get your head above the water. You’re kicking your legs as hard as you can, you’re trying to move your arms faster and faster. Then suddenly, something starts dragging you down further into the water. This cycle has gone on and on, and now you don’t believe you have the strength to continue trying to reach the surface.

I can’t say I know exactly what you’re going through, or how long you have been fighting for. If I did that, I would be taking away from the significance of your experiences. No individuals’ experiences, circumstances, or even their responses to situations are identical. However, I know that it is okay to feel exhausted. When you are feeling extremely low, even getting out of bed can feel like an impossible task. You lose motivation to do things that are a regular part of your routine. Even ‘simple’ things like making yourself look presentable seem like a huge challenge.

From the outside looking in, you may appear to be your normal self, but there may be the odd person who notices that something about you is different. Regardless, you’re just going through the motions of the day and putting on an act. Once you’re alone again, the act stops and you’re left to deal with all the negative thoughts in your head, the numbness and wondering what is the point of it all.

Whether they are good or bad, each day is another 24 hours for new things to happen. Sometimes life comes at you fast and knocks you off your feet, but in those moments, you have a choice to make.

I might be wrong, but you could feel like giving up now, because you’re trying to quit before properly addressing or confronting some of the challenges you’re facing. (Hear me out.) There are small obstacles in life that trip us up and make us stumble. Sometimes we feel as though they are easy to get over, so, they don’t anger us as much, but the same thing can occur a week later, and you experience a serious level of rage. That makes me wonder, did you go through the necessary steps to move forward from the situation the first time it occurred?

I think that you need to break down your feelings, challenges, and anything weighing you down. Separate them into things you can and can’t control. For the things you can control (no matter how big or small they are), create a plan of action on how you’re going to change the circumstances, because you have the largest responsibility to transform your life and make yourself happy. You shouldn’t let others have control over that. For the things that you can’t control, you have to accept them for what they are. You can’t control the incident that is occurring, but you can change how you respond to it.

Even though you feel like giving up, there is a part of you that has fight left, and that is why you haven’t quit or given up on yourself. You know that you want things to change, you just might not be sure about how to make that happen. It is okay to not have the answers yet. It is okay to ask for help and support, to rise to the surface again. Just remember that no matter how challenging or impossible it feels, the fight is always worth it in the end. Your life has more value and meaning than you know. You have an impact on so many people everyday and you probably don’t even realise it. Even when you fight with the people around you; they would never agree that you should give up. You have made it this far in your life already. You have already overcome so many things that most people probably won’t even believe. So, why would you tell yourself that you can’t overcome what you’re currently experiencing? If you give up now, what would have been the point of you getting this far? You owe it to yourself to keep going, keep kicking, keep fighting!