I’ve been through a hard stretch lately — one of those periods in life when I felt hurt and sad. That’s why I stopped writing here for a while. I kept asking myself: What can I say now, from the heart, to others, when I feel like this? Even though I know pain and hurt are part of everyone’s story, I felt like an impostor. My expectation of myself was to be fine — better than fine.

So I waited.

I let silence hold me.

I let time do what it does — not perfectly, but enough.

Slowly, through small efforts and quiet work, I started piecing myself back together.

Not all the way. But enough to come back to myself.

How did I get better?

I might disappoint you — because it involves work. And truth.

And there’s no 3-step solution. Not even a 5-step one.

Those are for marketing…

There’s no recipe.

But this is what helped me — maybe it will speak to you, too.

➤ I’ve always had high expectations — of myself, and of others.

And part of the pain came from learning that expectations alone don’t change people.

Not even when you love them. Not even when you try your best.

Letting go of that was hard. But it brought me peace.

➤ I stopped arguing with reality.

I looked it in the eye — all of it, not just the parts I liked.

And I accepted the truth, the consequences, everything.

That grounded me.

➤ I took responsibility for my actions.

I looked at what was mine.

Taking responsibility is hard.

But for me, victimhood is a cage.

And I didn’t want to stay trapped inside it.

➤ I chose what felt moral, even when it felt heavy.

Even when something in me whispered,

“Just take the easier road — it might work…”

But I would know.

And long-term peace never comes from short-term lies.

➤ I turned to what I call my healthy resources — the things that still made sense when nothing else did.

Books. Ideas. Prayer.

They held me together when the world felt like it couldn’t.

Sometimes, just hearing the sincere thoughts of others brings us back to our own truth.

It anchors us.

It reminds us who we are.