Walking down the streets of New York City, I could not help but be in awe of everyone and everything around me. Everyone doing their own thing. Everyone going about their own business. Everyone on their own mission. All the hustle is a part of their everyday lives and here I am, an outsider simply placed in the middle of all of it. I knew nothing about anyone in the city, but one thing stood out to me about every single person there: we all have our own battles.

Every single one of us is an individual and we all face our own struggles. There are mornings I wake up and think of everything that is wrong and it slowly begins to ruin my whole day. On the other hand, there are days I wake up and think of everything I am blessed with and how fortunate I am to have the opportunities that I do. It just takes the ladder of perspectives to understand what I really have going for me, and how great life really is.

I am a firm believer in the fact that God will not give you things he knows you cannot handle, and that for every struggle you face comes a blessing. I have had my fair share of struggles in the last year, but more importantly I have had more than my fair share of blessings and lessons. I have watched people leave my life who swore they never would, just to have people walk in that I am not sure how I ever lived without. I have lost friends only to learn more about myself and what I want for my life and who I deserve to have in it. I have had some medical scares that have taught me to appreciate every minute I have with those I love and the power of prayer. I have struggled with understanding some of my class work, just to remember how blessed I am to be at a place of higher education. I have had people try to tear me apart and break everything I am down, just to have God remind me of those who have my back and will support me on my way through the ups and downs.

We all face struggles, we all handle them in our own way. Every single person walking down the street that day in New York City had their own struggles, but I’m sure each and every one of them had triumphs and blessings as well. Sometimes it just takes the biggest falls to realize just how high you really were. So take that step back, see how high you really are and let those around you know how important they are to you. Focus on the here and now because you never know when God is going to decide you deserve a blessing in your life.