It wasn’t until two years ago that I experienced the lowest point in my life that I have ever endured, my rock-bottom. The crash was painful in more ways than one. But I knew that I could no longer drive myself into a deep depression, I was young and still had so much more to offer. Eventually, I had no choice but to face myself painfully, brutally, and honestly. And it was the best decision I’ve ever made for myself.

Life is funny, isn’t it? One day you feel like you’re on top of the world, and the very next day you find yourself at a crippling low, wondering how you got there. Truth be told, you cannot experience the good days without the bad ones. You are not alone, and always remember that when you hit rock bottom, you can only go up from there.

1. You're forced to face the the truth.

All of your dysfunctions have finally been brought to the surface, and if you never hit rock bottom, you would never be able to correct your mistakes. They would have gone unnoticed. Until your bubble of denial bursts, you convince yourself into thinking that everything is going juuust great, when in reality, you’re on a pathway to having bigger issues than you could have ever imagined. Reaching rock-bottom was not only inevitable, but also necessary. Those behaviors were simply not conductive to your growth.

2. You learn how to forgive yourself.

The second you decide to change your life for the better, you start to realize what made you so unhappy. You become fully aware of just how far off course you have been and that your choices were simply not sustainable.

3. You become extremely self-aware.

This is, in my opinion, the most important part to getting back on the road to success. You start to question EVERYTHING. You question your motives, your fears, beliefs, why you did certain things, why you attracted certain people and most importantly, why you failed. You need to ask yourself these questions in order to figure out why got yourself in such a crippling situation. If you don’t, you will most likely find yourself right back where you started.

4. You're forced to be goal-oriented.

Once you’ve answered the necessary questions I mentioned before, you have no other choice but to pick up the pieces and make a change. Your disempowering behaviors and patterns become blatantly obvious. And the triggers that made you fall back into those patterns turn into a sharp focus. On top of that, all the roles you’ve been playing start popping into your conscious awareness. And in that moment, you create the basic goals you need in order to to counteract your previous behaviors and move forward.

5. You find your purpose.

You were in fact not where you thought you were in life. You deceived yourself because you let your ego run the show for way too long. That being said, you didn’t realize that you don’t have the foundation to successfully accomplish the goals you’ve set for yourself. That’s when your ego begins to loosen its grip on you, you choose life and to always live in the present. As you surrender to your higher self more, you come into alignment with your purpose in life. And it is life changing.

6. You gain humility.

It becomes crystal clear that life is not just black and white. You do not know everything. In fact, you realize that you barely know anything at all. You become the student, rather than the juror.

7. You gain compassion.

You understand what it’s like for people for people who are deep in despair, shame, guilt and fear. When you’re on your way back to the top, you can’t help but feel an immense amount of compassion for all that humanity endures.

8. You're finally able to let go.

Let go of everything, because nothing is working, anyway. Let go of your bad habits, toxic people and anything else that held you back from your full potential. Letting go of the old creates space for new ideas, people and opportunities start to flood into your experience.

9. You can only go up from there.

The good news is, once you’ve hit the bottom, you know you can’t possibly go any lower. The bottom is actually a great springboard to lift yourself away from the darkness and back into the light.

You’ve recognized the toxicity in relying on other people and material items to make you happy. Instead of needing validation from everyone else, you begin to trust yourself and start the journey to find your sense of self, sense of purpose and self validation. This new inner peace becomes the key for your new meaningful life.

Every day I look back at those days with immense gratitude and happiness. Not because I enjoyed being unhappy for the short period of time that I was, but because it taught me so much about myself and my strength. I would go back in a heartbeat just to experience the incredible insights and growth I gained from my darkest hours, and you should, too. I’m unbelievably proud of myself for my progress, and there is nothing more rewarding than looking back at where I used to be and noticing that my strength and perseverance got me where I am today.