mood as I write this post. (Also, I need to find a credit for the featured image)

Every human being struggles. For that matter, every being, every organism does. For survival, for the chance to thrive.

That’s one of the big lies of adulthood, I think, that someday you’ll “have it made” and be done with the struggle. At least, that’s the impression I got when I was a child, before I knew much of the wider world, and the weariness it often contains.

I think to struggle is to be human, that it’s an inseparable part of the human experience and condition.

That when you stop struggling, when you stop moving – you’re dead.

You’re in good company, though – all the smart humans we look up to throughout history struggled. The ones we’ve made larger than life because we’re so far removed from the humans who knew them in the flesh. Their words loom large and intimidating across the centuries, suggesting that they “had their shit together”, (and if they did, my brain asks, why don’t I???), but I think the more likely answer is that every human struggles but you often can’t see it til you’re close enough.

I mean, why else would they say don’t meet your heroes?

Because you’ll find out it’s just humans all the way down. As a friend once told me, “there are no grownups, just people trying their best.”

Being human, being alive, is messy. Always has been, always will be.

So, embrace the struggle. Accept it. Make your peace with it, as much as you can.

There’s nothing wrong with you.

You’re not special, not alone in your suffering – you’re in good company with the rest of humanity.

And, yet, you ARE special.

So, go, live. Make your unique mark on the world.