It Might Take Some Time, But You Can Rebuild Your Life
By Emily Heron
If you’ve lived long enough, you have certainly faced trials and tribulations. Life tests us with various problems, and they can break us down. Facades and weak spots can be shown to us during these times. They can show us how strong we really are deep inside and how strong the relationships around us really are. Sometimes they can bring us to our knees, and it can be excruciating. Even though whatever life brings us can cause us to crumble, it also gives us the opportunity to build those weak foundations back up even stronger.
When you hit rock bottom, it can be a scary place to be. You don’t always know when you’re there. You might think you’re there, but unfortunately, it can always get worse, just as it can always get better. It’s all relative, but when you do hit a low place in life, you can always look back at better times in gratitude and appreciation, knowing that it’s possible to get back there and to come back even stronger.
When tough times happen, they can be shocking and unexpected. It might shift your entire view of reality when you see that things you may have thought were so solid could disappear so quickly. Give yourself the time you need to heal and to be patient and kind with yourself. It might take some time, but you can rebuild your life even bigger and better than you had imagined it before.
The one positive thing about tough times is that when they happen, they put us in a position to create something new. They give us time to think about the track we have been taking in life and if it is really what we want for ourselves. It can lead us to discover new places, people, and hobbies that we might not have tried before. Tough times can lead to identity crises, not knowing who you really are after something you might have felt was a part of your identity becomes lost. But it is during these times that you start to learn that you get to create your own reality—you get to choose how to build it back up. You get to choose what’s important and exciting to you, and it’s okay if that shifts from who that person was in the past. You get to explore new ideas and options for yourself that might better serve you.
Building a new life for yourself takes time. It doesn’t have to be extreme. You can keep components in your “new” life that are still working from the “old” version of your life. You don’t have to totally start over unless you feel called to do so. You can become a mixture of the old life and the new in order to feel more like yourself and to stay grounded. Know that it’s okay to take the time to really be mindful and intentional about what it is you might want in your “new” life—who and what you will allow to remain a permanent fixture and what you may let go of.
Life will not look the same after hitting rock bottom, but beautiful things are often born out of tragedy. Your soul will become more beautiful as a result of what you have been able to overcome.