Listen. I don’t have all of the answers. I’ve never claimed to. I have the worst days, and I have the best days, but mostly I just have a lot of perspective on my life. I know where I want to be even if it always feels like it is a million miles away. I know what I’m capable of even when the whole universe feels like it is conspiring against me. No matter what, I always keep the thought in the back of my mind that tells me I will always survive.

As a kid I adopted this sort of mantra that I would repeat to myself over and over again on those worst days. I would remind myself that I could make it no matter what. I would say, “It’s just one more thing.” Just one more. I can handle just one more, right? I wouldn’t pay attention to how many “one mores” there were backlogged. I would focus on the one in front of me. Like a bug trying to walk through molasses, I would move forward knowing I could handle this one more thing.

As an adult I continue this practice because it works. Eyes forward, head up, spirit strong from all the years of intense emotional and mental exercise. I can do this one more thing, and then I can do the next one. Then the next one. Now I can even look back and take care of that last one, too.

Survival is a practiced habit. Like any good habit it takes time. Keep going. It’s just one more thing.