as i sit here with my leg elevated, propped up rather comically by a pile of pillows and pointed skyward my thoughts are drawn to the other trials and hardships that are facing not only some of my immediate friends and family members, but even the strangers i see on the news. it is easy for us all to get so wound up in our own problems that we kind of block out what is going on around us and we sometimes think we have it 'the worst.' i'm as guilty as the next person; it's easy to get sucked into that downward spiral of self pity, but it's a chasm that doesn't ever have an end and you'll only wind up ruminating over things until you're even more depressed.

in my most recent ordeal i've had plenty of moments where i question 'why me' and think i'm just the most unlucky person around; but the truth is, yes i've been dealt a tough hand but everyone has those cards sooner or later. it may come in the form of a physical hardship, an injury or even birth defect, it could also come in the form of a mental complex be it a neurosis or compulsion, and there are many other forms. in taking a closer look at the people around us, we can see that at any given time one may be suffering in some way to some degree but at the same time there are also positives in their life; be them glaringly obvious or hidden a bit and they need only look a bit harder to find them.

personally, my grandfather had an accident (ironically the same day as my car accident) and he landed himself in the hospital with a trauma to his head. at first he was fighting the system, refusing to eat, to get out of bed, to even talk but it finally took a hardy dose of tough love from a nurse to tell him that he either is going to fight to get better or he'll just end up stuck in the hospital bed he hates so much even longer. thankfully that motivated him and he started to actively participate in getting better, and getting back to life. instead of sitting there stewing about what he can't do or doesn't have at the moment he looked ahead to what he will eventually be able to return to once he overcomes this hurdle.

that can be applied to me, and lots of other problems; we get sucked into the here and now and see the future we want as unobtainable and then sort of give up on it completely. holding onto the hope that we can overcome what we have been faced with now and that we will emerge stronger is perhaps the paramount way to keep plugging away when the going gets seemingly unbearable. and another thing we can take heed to notice is that we are not alone; we all go through rough patches and i think that for the most part human nature is to offer consolation to others when we can because we were met with the same thing in our own times of need.

reaching out not only benefits the person feeling low, but it also rewards the giver. i've been lucky enough to have many wonderful people reach out to me, and at the same time i do what i can to reach out to my own friends and people i meet that may need a hand or even just a friendly smile. when things do seem overwelming i think it helps to take a moment and remember we are never alone, even if it seems like it at times, and also that no matter how far off it looks the future is there...we only need to keep fighting to make it there.