There are times in life when every emotion, every downfall, every negative thought comes crashing down on you all at once. Some days, it may feel like this will be an ongoing part of your life; that the sun will never creep through the dark parts of your soul. But let me tell you a secret, that heart-pounding, skin-tingling, knee-quivering moment will come. Someday, this moment you have been dreaming of for days, weeks, months, years will come crashing down on you, but not in the way that it once did. It will no longer make you feel like the dark spirit that had once been leading your life was digging its heavy hands onto the grips of your fragile shoulders and pushing you down with it. You will feel enlightened, brand new.

I know at this very moment you may be reading this at a time when you are feeling the dark spirit taking over the reigns and steering you on a path with no hope in sight. The weakness and the fear that is driving your life will only continue if you let it. But you are bigger than this, you are more courageous than this.

Just know:

"Your body is made of the same elements that lionesses are built from. Three quarters of you is the same kind of water that beats rocks to rubble and wears stones away. Your DNA translates into the same amino acids that wolf genes code for. When you look in the mirror and feel weak, remember, the air you breathe in fuels forest fires that are capable of destroying everything they touch. On the days you feel ugly, remember: diamonds are only carbon. You are so much more."

Do not let the dark blind you from the beautiful life you have been given. Whether the darkness be your poor grades, your toxic friendships, your draining classes, and everything that is keeping you from shining your light, do not let them define the heart-pounding, skin-tingling, knee-quivering path that lies ahead; the kind of path that will lead you to the top of mountain you have been climbing up for days, weeks, months, years. This path will be a forest with thick canopies of maple trees and sweet-scented wild flowers sprouting in every crevice. This path will be your way to the light, but remember, that the light is you. You are the path-maker, you are the master of your reigns. No matter how badly the forest path within you is beaten down and destroyed, you will grow back over and over again.

You cannot be defeated by the dark spirit that lingers behind. Don't be blinded by it, blind IT with your light.