This is a piece you should save for a rainy day. This an "In case of emergency" piece.
If today is your rainy day, then break the glass and use accordingly.
There will come a time when it feels like all of your effort was for nothing, like a wave rushed in and wiped out your castle of sand. A time when you feel like you have to fight tooth and nail for each tiny win. When it's hard not to believe the universe is tilted against you a little bit or gravity pulls on you slightly more than it does everything else.
There will be times when it won't matter how good of a guy you are--Captain Douchepants will get the girl.
Times when it won't matter how great your attitude is--your boss will seem to cater to the coworker who knows how to whine the loudest.
Times when it seems like the person who hurt you not only walks free but gets rewarded.
Times when you swing for the fences, and you miss by a mile.
Or, perhaps even worse, you're convinced you've hit a home run--you can taste it--and someone snags that ball at the last second.
There will come a moment when you'll fear this loss might be the last loss you can handle. This fall might be the one to keep you in the dirt. This cut might be the one to bleed you out.
You'll think, I can't take one more shot. I can't handle one more disappointment. I can't make one more hospital visit. I can't drive to one more funeral service. I can't.
You're going to question yourself. You're going to want to unplug from the good, healthy sources in your life--your family, your friends, your community. You're going to want to retreat. You're going to want to turn to the vices you know won't help. You're going to say to yourself, What does it matter--doing the right thing got me nowhere.
In the midst of your disappointment, your pain, your fear, your apathy, your doubts--I hope you can hear me, and your family, and your friends, and everyone who's cheering for you, and that best version of you who's just too tired and exhausted to fight right now:
Don't give up.
Don't disconnect.
Don't retreat.
Don't leave.
Don't give up.
Don't give in to your fear.
Don't let disappointment steer the ship.
Don't believe this loss is all there is.
Don't give up.
Keep connecting. Keep moving forward. Keep choosing what you know to be good.
If you feel like you can't do it on your own, send up a flare. Let us come and fight alongside you.
This is your rainy day, emergency reminder. This is a notification that not all of life is loss. This is a heads up that there's plenty of winning you have left to do.