Alexa Babin

I could answer this question a thousand different ways, but there’s one response currently at the forefront of my mind.

Since 2008, I’ve been a consistent journaler. That’s nearly 17 years of filling up journals with endless words. I love to write things down, pen to paper. It’s one of my life’s simplest pleasures and greatest joys.

Yesterday I filled up the last page of my current journal. It’s the one my dad bought me at Powell’s Books in Portland while we were on a trip there in October a couple years back. It has a tree on the front with blue and orange in the background.

As I was putting it away with my other used journals today, I decided to pull out some oldies for nostalgia’s sake. I dragged my box of journals out of my closet, sat down on the floor, and cracked one open.

I landed in 2021. Doesn’t seem that long ago, but as I was reading, it felt like I was turning the pages of someone else’s life. There was a period—only about two months—where everything seemed to be happening. Truly, everything. Stress over unemployment, a fractured relationship with a best friend, a new boy, a milestone birthday for my mom, a best friend coming to town to visit, a new roommate moving in, starting a job that induced greater stress than unemployment did, getting sick and missing a wedding, missing an engagement party… and the list goes on. It was all happening.  And while reading this, you may be thinking, “That’s just life, Alexa!” You’re right. It is. But for me, that was a LOT of life happening in such a short span of time. A lot of life that was not easy to manage at the time. With all the fun and joy were also unmet expectations, anger, grief, sorrow, and loneliness.

All this to say—in reading my old journals, I was reminded that if I could navigate those times, I certainly can have confidence for the next challenging times. Reflecting on the past can be an excellent way to build assurance for the future. We must live through hard times whether we want to or not. Life demands it of us (sorry to ruin the illusion if you haven’t lived through your dark night of the soul just yet).

What are you going to do with these moments of heartache, disappointment, and grief? I say, use them to build your own resilience. Let them fuel you forward.

A trusted someone reminded me yesterday that I have a lot of evidence to support the fact that I can survive difficult seasons of life. I’ve been through some tough, gritty days, y’all. And because of it, I can look back at my own story and see the living proof that I will make it through uncertain moments.

Where is your evidence? Can you pinpoint your proof? My guess is that you, too, have hard days of the past to draw on when you need guidance now. Remember what’s gotten you through before. Let your own story show you that this, too, will one day be written in your pages.