Dear Fellow People of the Earth,

We've all been through those times. Maybe it lasted a day or a week. Maybe it went on for a month or two. Or maybe it lasted a year.

We've all had those times when we think we're going to break, when we "just can't do it anymore," and when we think that there's no light at the end of the tunnel. No hope.

I've seen my friends and family go through times like these throughout my life. Some of my best friends have been torn apart by breakups. Others have been short on money or have struggled with family tension. Even difficult classes or professors have caused my friends and family distress.

As for me, I just attended my second funeral for a close family member within a year, and honestly, it's been really hard. No matter how many times you endure the pain of loss, it never gets easier. When you suffer from grief, it really does feel as though it will hurt forever.

At one point during high school, when I had overextended myself and struggled to keep myself together amidst deadlines and exams, school musicals and choral practices, I asked one of my best friends for help. And she told me something along the lines of, “You’ll get through it. You always do.”

Because, think about it, how many struggles have you gone through up until this point? There have been deaths and accidents, transitions into new schools and new jobs, breakups with significant others and friends, health problems—the list goes on. But when have you not gotten through it? When have you not made it past the pain, stress, or worry? Your existence up to this point gives you the answer.

That’s the thing that we tend to forget; we are stronger than we think we are. In every sense, we are more capable than we could ever think possible. Our instinct for self-preservation is so strong that it is incredibly difficult to overcome. Just think about how your heart keeps pumping blood, your lungs keep exchanging gases, and your hormones keep controlling the inner workings of your body without you even thinking about it. Your body is constantly working to keep you alive.

Every trial that has come your way you have overcome. Even if the outcome was a supposed failure, you have moved forward from that failure to try again. The human ability to learn from mistakes and the resilience to continue efforts despite failures are some of the most powerful forces within us.

What's even more powerful is the fact that each person can identify with the feelings of losing and gaining, of moving forward and falling back. This makes our communities strong sources of support and empathy; every group of people you encounter--whether it be your family, your friends, your roommates, your classmates, or a group of people in a church, club or organization--has experiences that can help you surmount your own. Being a person comes with the ability to change and be changed, and those changes often arise in times of distress with the comfort of friends and family.

So I think about my friends who are working every day to come to peace with their exes, my cousin who is nervous about starting high school, my brother who, in his last year of college, has a career looming before him, and my great uncle who as a priest has given the funerals of some of the closest people in his life. I think about every person I've known who has shared a story of struggle with me and those around them. And I remember that these people are still here, and so are you. We will all keep being here and keep moving forward. Even when there seems to be no hope, there is. You just have to find it.