We all know there are some days that feel like the world is crashing down on you. There are terrible days when it feels like everything you’ve ever done has been for naught. Maybe today has been one of those days for you and maybe it hasn’t. Maybe it’s been one of those days for me. Maybe it’s been a long stretch between good days for us all, even years for some of us. But on days like these, it doesn’t matter how you feel about it. It matters how you decide to think and act on what you believe.

The difference between a survivor and someone who never gets up when they’ve been knocked down is in how they perceive the future. Even if they don’t see a silver lining, or even light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, they believe that there will still be better days ahead. Even if that brighter day takes years to arrive, they still anticipate it will come. They know it will. They – I – keep the faith that something extraordinary is ahead in the future.

Heartbreak and change can alter a person’s future in an instant, but sometimes the dull ache of today is tomorrow’s triumph. Losing a dream can bring the birth of a new one; the one that can make you happier than you ever thought possible. And that new dream will make you so content that your old life, yearnings, and dreams seem paltry in comparison with the things you know now; the things you would never have seen come to fruition had you given up when things got tough.

I’m no different. I’m certainly not preaching to the choir and taking credit where it isn’t due. I’ve had many days when I thought I might not keep going. I’ve had days when the pain was so much that I thought I might not be able to bear it anymore, where painkillers did nothing to dull the physical pain. I’ve had dreams die, dreams in which tutus and Broadway suddenly seemed too far away to reach.

But during those moments, those awful times, I never saw a novelist in the mirror. I never saw a storyteller taking form. That storyteller would never have come to be if I hadn’t believed in a better day and a better future, even when I couldn’t see past my pain. WAR MACHINE would never have been written and I’d still be crying in my soup if not for the sheer will power to survive.

Don’t give up. Don’t give in either. Keep on fighting and believing. Tomorrow will be a better day. Open your eyes to the smallest of blessings and the people who make your life worth living. Cling to your faith and beliefs with all you have.

Tomorrow could be the best day of your life. But you’ll never get to see its wonders and joy if you give in now; now will you?

Love and hugs,

Maggie Lynn Heron-Heidel XOX

God bless you