Breathe.

Life's hard all around. We love. We hate. We have good days. We have bad days. We crave what we can't have. Everyone's begging for a love they can't have. We want change in the world, but we always refuse to be the one to start that change. When we see one thing we refuse to see another. We fall. Sometimes we get up, and sometimes we don't. Some of us choose our battles. And others of us try to fight them all. 

I used to try and fight them all. And I would lose. Over and over I would lose. I took knock out punches left and right. And eventually I didn't get back up. I didn't realize that if you choose your battles instead of trying to fight them all, you'll win the war. I went down that dark road.. That road you're traveling. The one you can't seem to find the strength to stray from.

I know. I know where you are. That place you're at. Because I've been there. I've gone where hope doesn't exist. I've been where faith in everything, faith in people, is gone. I've traveled so far into the dark that I forgot that light even existed. I've been so far down that pit where no matter how much you scratch claw and dig you make no progress. I've been exactly where you are living right now. So I know how utterly hopeless it can seem.

I've been down that road. The one where you hate yourself and the people in your life so much that death seems like the better option. I have lost God and I have hated him so much that I could feel it in my bones. I have been to that place where you may be alive, but not really living. I have faked those smiles. I have faked that laughter. I have been a shadow of myself, lingering with no purpose or direction. I have been to the absolute lowest of the low. I have taken the hard hits. I have been to the darkest place you can go.. And I got up. 

It's a new art form. Showing people how little I care. Embracing life as it is. Feeling the absolute strength of my spirit. Embracing the journey is never easy. Bouncing back from darkness is impossible. But working to get back is very possible.

Even when you feel you're completely broken, like life is not worth living. Even when you pray to that God you have lost all faith in for release. Even when you feel you can find no peace. There is always a part of you, no matter how small, struggling to find its way back. I know. I have been there. 

Breathe. Just breathe. 

Life is hard all around. For everyone. Always. 

Happiness is a basic human right. Something we all deserve no matter what we have done or where we have been. Life is something to be really and truly lived not just endured. 

Your spirit is strong. Your mind is amazing. You have a light, a fire, inside you. Reach in, find it, and let it ignite. 

Those of us that have been to the lowest point, or are at the lowest point are the strongest. Even when we don't feel it. If we weren't the strongest we wouldn't have to go through it. We are the strongest because even when we feel broken, even when we feel we have given up, there is always a part of us fighting. Those that don't reach that low point, that bottomless pit, are the ones that couldn't take it. 

Everyone has there struggles. Some are just harder and seemingly more endless than others.

This world can be so filled with hate. Bullying. Death. Sadness. Pain. Tears. Fears. 

But this world can also be so filled with beauty. Love. Life. Laughter. Hope. Smiles.

What side will you choose?

Will you wake up? Will you try? Will you find your strength? Will you be daring? Will you choose to be different? Will you fight your way back? Will you become that heavy weight champion? 

I've been there. And I've won.

I know my strength. It is amazing. It fills me and completes me. I know I can overcome so much. More than I ever thought I could handle.

And it all started with a deep breath. 

I closed my eyes...

And I looked up.

Just breathe.