Nobody is perfect. We all, every last one of us, have times when we feel less than great. Every school year brings new twists and turns. You know, little challenges designed to make us fight. For me, the end of last year was particularly rough. Final projects, work-related issues, and preparing for an upcoming move brought on a lot of stress and frustration.

Then things got worse in the space of less than a day.

On an otherwise normal Sunday afternoon I got into a wreck. My car was totaled. Nobody else was injured. Except for a few small scratches I was physically fine. Mentally, however…I was crushed.  Devastated.

I couldn’t smile. I could barely even TALK at first. I felt sad, hollow, depressed. I didn’t even want to write. I mean, that’s understandable. It was just about impossible to give others advice on how to be awesomesauce when I was feeling the complete opposite.

So I took a break. I grieved in my own way, even cried a few times. Above all else I tried to move forward. I needed to move on, emerge from this a stronger person. It wasn’t easy, though. The days that followed had more than their fair share of dark moments. In the space of one day, I had a vivid dream about the incident and then had to deal with one individual asking rude and probing questions about it.  Not fun.

Time passed as it always does. The nightmare of that April afternoon faded into memory. Slowly but surely I started feeling more like my usual self again. It wasn’t easy, and it didn’t happen overnight.  I forced myself to stop thinking about the wreck. I put my time and energy into other things, like drawing, dancing, and schoolwork. Things aren’t perfect but they have certainly taken a positive shift since those dark days. I’m driving again. More importantly, I’m finding it easier to smile with each passing day.

There is a point to my story, aside from the obvious moral of “always stop at red lights at that intersection regardless of if anyone else does.” Like I said earlier on, we all have gone through rough times, and will most likely face more as we move forward through our lives. The rough time doesn’t necessarily have to be a car crash, either. You could be facing a personal tragedy, a fight with friends, approaching deadlines in work or class, anxiety about the future or any number of other issues. Whatever the issue is, it can stress you out to the point where you don’t even feel like yourself anymore.  It’s rough. I know that from experience.

I also know this – no matter how rough times get, no matter how much you want to curl into a ball and cry or die, it’s NOT permanent. First and foremost, find someone to talk to. Make sure that someone knows what’s going on and how you’re feeling. You don’t have to talk to the person for hours at a time, but I strongly recommend keeping in contact with them. I know that my own recovery process was pushed along thanks in part to phone calls with family. If you need to talk, then talk. Vent. Don’t be afraid to take advice, either.

It’s also important to have something to take your mind off the problem. Engage in one of your favorite hobbies. Sit and watch a movie. Go for a walk or drive through a park. Take time to breathe and relax. Whatever your situation is, however you choose to recover from it, just remember that things are not always going to be rough. Challenges and obstacles are put into our lives to make us stronger.

Remember, even when times are difficult, you are all awesomesauce!