You Can *Always* Recover From a Setback.

Looking back at different events in my life, I’ve learned that we can always choose to move forward despite any setback.

It’s a choice.

Of course, not all setbacks are equal, and some things will take longer to recover from, but the whole point is that it is possible.

You do not have to remain where you are; things can and will get better if you believe it.

You can get better at dealing with conflict.

You can get better in the face of adversity and difficult circumstances.

One of our abilities as humans that we greatly underestimate is our ability to adapt.

This is perhaps the number one reason we’re the dominating species on this planet.

We’re capable of so much more than we can even begin to imagine.

So why is overcoming a setback, not a possibility? It is, and this is how to start.

It all starts with believing you CAN.

Faith and belief are the foundation for anything you choose to do.

For me, this is deeply rooted in my faith and one of the things I’m most grateful for.

Thanks to my mother, I became aware of and developed my own relationship with Jesus (I’m Christian).

And thanks to knowing Jesus, even at a young age (and the difficult events that happened throughout my childhood), I had a deep-rooted belief that I wasn’t alone and that despite not knowing what was ahead, I would still triumph over my circumstances.

My parents got divorced when I was five years old; I lost my father at eleven. That same year, my mom and I picked up our lives in a couple of suitcases and moved to the USA from Colombia.

Two years after that, we moved cities.

After another two years, we moved yet again to a new city. Three years after that, I moved away to go to college, and eight years after that (today), I’m living completely independently, living a life I only dreamed of a few years ago.

There’s so much more that happened throughout those years, but the jist of it is that none of it was easy.

My life hasn’t been easy by any means, but it’s most definitely been blessed.

And I’m certain in all stems from my belief and my faith (in Jesus) that somehow, someway, all things will work out in my favor.

It’s okay not to be okay.

One of my biggest mistakes growing up was not acknowledging my emotions.

I spent over half of my life not wanting to admit pain and hurt.

Doing so led me to have an identity crisis at twenty-three, and too many of us are either headed there or already in the middle of an identity crisis.

The way to begin resolving this is by accepting your thoughts and feelings and working through them.

This is why I’m a huge fan of counseling/therapy.

My counselor has helped me sort through all sorts of emotions but, more importantly, taught me the skills of self-reflection and self-awareness.

The reason I’m able to write on this platform, tell you about my accomplishments, and continue to succeed and thrive is because I developed the skill of reflecting on my past actions and learning what areas I did well in and what areas I did poorly in.

Awareness allowed me to take the veil of my own eyes and realize that most of my obstacles had to do with my inability to hold myself accountable.

Awareness allowed me to understand my needs, accept them, and find a way to meet them to become and show up as the best version of myself and continue to improve.

Moral of the story here is to open your eyes.

Allow yourself to see situations for what they are, and more importantly, take action — this is my next point.

You HAVE to take action.

One of the biggest lessons I learned this year was about authenticity.

I also learned that authenticity cannot happen without action to back it up.

You can’t make anything happen in your life unless you get up and do it.

Now, this all sounds abstract, so let me put it into perspective/describe it.

Taking action is going online, finding possible therapists or counselors in your area, and seeing if your insurance covers them.

If not, it’s making a plan with your budget to figure out how to pay for a session.

Taking action is taking out a piece of paper or logging into your laptop and writing or typing away all your feelings of frustration, lack of worth, doubts, etc.

Taking action is reading the book, listening to the podcast, taking that walk, making the plans, etc.

It’s believing in yourself, holding yourself accountable, and doing what you said you would do.

This is how you’ll establish faith in yourself and your ability to do what you said you would do and actually follow through.

Takeaways.

We have the ability to overcome any challenge or setback (at least most of them).

It all starts with believing we can. If we have faith, then as the saying goes, where there is a will, there is a way.

Second, it’s okay to admit you’re not okay. Most of us aren’t, and that’s not something to be ashamed of. The reality is we’re all living in a chaotic world, doing our best to survive.

But we don’t have to just survive, we can thrive, too.

Third, you will only begin thriving when you take action.

For a very long time, I was asleep on my laurels until life gave me a big knock on the head, letting me know I needed to wake up.

Otherwise, time would pass me by, and rather than looking back at my life and seeing all that I had done, I would only have regrets.

I grew more afraid of regretting not doing than doing. That fire lit me, and it’s very much lit now.

My hope with these words is to get you to continue forward or to start if you haven’t.

I hope that reading these words has an impact, however small it may be, and that one day, you take that step that changes your life.

I hope everyone is off to a great start this new year, and if not, it can always be turned around.

Happy New Year!!!