Your new mantra: This isn’t going to be what stops me.

There have been lots of times in my life, especially in recent years, when I was convinced that a stressful problem in life was the one that was finally going to do me in. Sure, I’ve made it this far, but this situation? This is the one I can’t handle. It’s too big, it’s too much. Anxiety and doubt creep in. I’m convinced that no matter how much I’ve learned and overcome, I won’t be able to make it through this.

At one point along the way, though, a mantra popped into my mind that I want to share with you: This isn’t going to be what stops me. 

This statement has become a guiding force for me, a reminder that nothing is permanent and that we are the authors of our lives. We have a choice in the narrative we craft about our lives. Problems will come into our lives whether we like it or not. However, we write our story– the names and contents of chapters, how we are shaped by the challenges we encounter. If you let it, you can allow a particular stressor to be the one that breaks you. But you are the gatekeeper; you are the author.

Will something eventually stop us? Of course; we’ll all die someday, after all. But we can find comfort and resilience in reminding ourselves that even when something feels doomed and overwhelming, it is not the end of the road. We can reconnect with our larger mission and purpose, and we prevail. You likely have been through pain in the past, which you maybe thought at that time would be the end, too.  And yet, here you are.

Next time you’re in the thick of a hard time, remember: This isn’t going to be what stops me.