Life is Izokuthoba: It Will Humble You!

A conventional marathon as is known around the world in London, New York etc is a 42 kilometers race. Hard is the name of the game as a marathon will test your tenacity, endurance, staying power, determination and courage. If stories are anything to go by, many have passed out and never returned to the land of the living while in a marathon. Many of such people are accomplished runners who thought they had the trained legs and experienced guile to go the entire distance. Indeed, only the truly great concludes a marathon. However, as daunting and daring a normal marathon is, it is child’s play to Izokuthoba. In South Africa, Izokuthoba means ‘It will humble you.’ It was the theme for the May 29th 2016 special kind of marathon; known as ‘Comrade Marathon’ (It was the 91st edition). As opposed to the conventional marathon which is 42 kilometers, this is an 89.2 kilometers race. More than double a normal marathon distance! It will test your soul, stretch your will, dare your tenacity, harass your resolve, meddle with your guts and gauge your lasting power. In many ways, the Izokuthoba is less about running and more about reaffirming the human spirit. It will define you, and it will humble you. The largest ultra-marathon has humbled elite runners. Johnny Halberstadt, arguably South Africa’s most versatile runner who was a world class marathoner met his match in the 1979 up run, where while leading the race, fatigue and depletion saw him drop to the tarmac outside Camperdown, and that was it for him.

Such is life; it is Izokuthoba – It will humble you. Life will throw curve balls at you when you thought you had it together. It will push you so hard you will contemplate the thought ‘Is it really worth it or should I just end it now.’ If you live very long enough, you will discover that every man is fighting his own devils, which you know absolutely nothing about. Some are simply skilled in doing it privately while putting up a cheerful outlook to the rest of the world. Make no mistakes about it, life is a Pandora box, you never quite know what to expect irrespective of how prepared you are for it. Like in Izokuthoba, just when you thought you are adequately prepared for the race of life, it will shock you with the curves and mountainous paths and even for the fearless, it might break them. Life indeed is humbling. It will shut you up, make you mind your business, bring you to your knees and make you pray. One definition of “humbled” I have seen, reads ‘Feeling the positive effects of humility.’ At times, life has to be humbling for the message to sink in.

As you run your own race in life, always remember that no man has it all figured out. Sometimes, it is okay to be tired, to need rest, to seek support systems, to reach out. In Izokuthoba, runners pat themselves on the back and encourage one another. They surge on even when it doesn’t feel like it anymore. Trust me; there are moments in your life when you simply won’t feel like it anymore. It is in those moments that you trudge on, with pain in your heart and your body souring. However, remember that there are times in life, when you will have no support to fall back on and the only one that can cheer you on is yourself. As it is in Izokuthoba, so it is in life; you must learn to encourage and cheer yourself on sometimes.

There is a cliché among the comrade marathoners that goes thus ‘A smooth race never made a skillful racer.’ In life, you will go through paths you never envisaged and when you think the finish line is in sight, you will discover it was only a temporary reprieve, as there is a bend at the end of that road that shocks you and keeps demanding the last of your resolve. However, to conclude an Izokuthoba, is to have won. Same with life; your victory is not dependent on whether you out-ran the next man. Rather, it hinges on whether you met your own goals, finished your own race and cut your own ribbon. The hair rising moment in Izokuthoba is to have crossed the line and this is same with life. ‘Finishing’ your course is what it means to have won in life.


*Special thanks my boss and mentor, Obinna Anaba, who inspired this article when he first told me of Izokuthoba

5 Things to Remember When Someone You Love Loses Someone They Love

1. A person who’s grieving already knows that time heals wounds, and they don’t need to be reminded of it.

When you’re grieving, everyone wants to remind you that time will heal your pain, but no one can seem to tell you exactly what you’re supposed to do and how you’re supposed to cope right now. And that’s all you really want to know.

Because it’s right now that you can’t sleep. It’s right now that you can’t eat. It’s right now that you still hear his voice, and smell his scent, and sense his presence, even though you know he’s not here anymore. It’s right now that all you seem to be capable of is crying. So despite the fact that you intellectually know all about time’s power to heal wounds, if you had all the time in the world right now, you still wouldn’t know what to do with the immediate, intense pain you feel.

Realize this, and treat those who are grieving accordingly. Don’t remind them that time heals. Instead, remind them that you’re with them right now, and that you’ll be available tomorrow too. Remind them that you love them, and that you’re standing beside them through their grief. Remind them that they aren’t going through this alone.

2. Grief doesn’t suddenly disappear, and some days are much better than others.

When someone you love passes away (or simply leaves), and you’re not expecting it, you don’t lose them all at once. You lose them a little bit at a time over weeks, months and years – the way snail mail gradually stops coming to an address, and a person’s scent slowly fades from the pillows and even from the clothes they used to wear.
Everyone grieves in their own way. For some of us, it could take longer or shorter. One thing you can be certain of, however, is that grief never completely disappears. An ember still smolders inside our grieving hearts, even when we’ve moved forward with our lives. Most days we don’t notice it, but, out of the blue, it may flare to life. This reality is hard to deal with. We think we’ve accepted that they’re gone – that we’ve grieved and it’s over – and then BOOM! One little thing happens, and we feel like we’ve lost that person all over again.

This is exactly why caring for someone who’s grieving requires incredible patience.

3. The grieving process exhausts and consumes a person, which is why you can’t take their withdrawn behavior personally.

Relentless exhaustion is a common side effect of grief. Just getting out of bed in the morning can be an overwhelming and excruciating experience for a while. Also, someone suffering from grief may feel OK one moment and feel completely heartbroken the next, even if the environment around them hasn’t changed one bit. This can result in them canceling plans, departing get-togethers early, or saying no far more often than you’d like. Just remember it’s not about you – it has nothing to do with what you did or didn’t do. These are just some of the prevalent side effects working through the grieving process.

Do your best to not take anything they do too personally. People can only give to others what they have, and deep grief takes almost everything away from a person. All your actions and words should come from a place of love, but that doesn’t mean your grieving loved one will always be loving in return, and that’s OK. When you do not take things personally, you liberate yourself – you open yourself to loving someone who truly needs you, generously, and without letting needless expectations get in the way of the immeasurable amounts of support and affection you are capable of giving.

4. A person who’s grieving still wants to smile about the good times, and it’s OK to help them reminisce.

In the long run, grief can devour us, or it can enlighten us. It depends on what we focus on. We can decide that a relationship was all for nothing if it had to end earlier than we expected, or we can recognize that every single moment of it had more meaning than we dared to accept at the time – so much meaning it frightened us, so we just lived, just took for granted the time spent together every day, and didn’t allow ourselves to consider the sacredness of it.

When a wonderful relationship ends abruptly we suddenly see what was there all along – it wasn’t just a hug and a smile, not just a long walk together, not just meeting for lunch and talking about politics, people, and another day at work. It was EVERYTHING – all the little intricacies of life shared by two souls. The answer to the mystery of living is the love and respect we share sometimes so imperfectly, and when the loss awakens us to the deeper beauty of it, to the sanctity of a wonderful relationship that’s been lost, we’re driven to our knees.

When this happens to someone you love – when they are mourning the loss of someone they love – help them focus on all those good, imperfect times worth smiling about. Help them counterbalance the weight of their loss with the weight of their gratitude for what preceded the loss.

5. Grief can be a burden, but also a healthy anchor for healing and living well.

As human beings, we sometimes get used to the weight of grief and how it holds us in place. For instance, Angel once told me, “My brother will die over and over again for the rest of my life, and I’m OK with that – it keeps me closer to him.” This was Angel’s way of reminding me that grief doesn’t disappear. Step-by-step, breath-by-breath, it becomes a part of us. And it can become a healthy part of us too.

Although we may never completely stop grieving, simply because we never stop loving the ones we’ve lost, we can effectively leverage our love for them in the present. We can love them and emulate them by living with their magnificence as our daily inspiration. By doing this, they live on in the warmth of our broken hearts that don’t fully heal back up, and we will continue to grow and experience life, even with our wounds. It’s like badly breaking an ankle that never heals perfectly, and that still hurts when you dance, but you dance anyway with a slight limp, and this limp just adds to the depth of your performance and the authenticity of your character.

Just knowing this and keeping it in mind, I think, can help us help our grieving loved ones dance again, gradually.

(MARCANDANGEL).

Still Friends…

It was T.D Jakes who preached a message titled ‘Can God trust you with trouble?’ At the crux of the teaching was what do we do when we try all we know to do and it still doesn’t work. What do you do when you had everyone pray for that ailing mother, but she still died? What do you do when you had hands laid on that pregnant woman and she still had a still-birth? In summary, what do you do when life happens and we are left overwhelmed?

The events of the past few weeks have reaffirmed my conviction that it is not in our place to make sense of certain things in Life. Try as you may, some answers will remain elusive and for all the explanations in the world, it still wouldn’t add up. In truth, life happens to both the just and the unjust and our job is not to attempt to figure out why certain things happen the way they do. The Good book did not promise us an easy sailing, but it assured us of strength to bear the storm.

There are moments in our lives when we know that some things are just not fair when they happen. There are nights when it seems so dark and we are left wondering how the day will break; those nights you hug a pillow to fall asleep. There are times when we look at the Word of God and we look at our life side by side and it just doesn’t correlate. At other times, we are just drained of strength and simply tired. In moment like this when we don’t understand, we have to trust God. We have to trust God not because of the situation but because of who He is, the things He has done in the past and His promise to bring us to an expected end. In the dark places of life, we must remember that God has the entire script and He must know something we don’t know. We must never forget that He allows certain things to happen because he has the full picture. As the song writer puts it ‘Though the storms keep on raging in my life and sometimes it is hard to tell my night from day, I know he will lead me safely for my soul has been anchored in Him.’

In the final analysis, our relationship with God is all that matters, and we must renew our friendship with Him irrespective of how we feel or what the situation is. When you didn’t get the job, when you waited 10 years to get pregnant and yet had a miscarriage, when you put in so much effort and yet remain improvised, when you bury your baby son in a box, when you pour that sand against the remains of your father and when nothing in this life seems enticing anymore, you have to lift up your hands in thanksgiving to God and say ‘We are still friends.’

The Leicester Story: Who Says You Can’t?

It was Will Smith in ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’ that said to his son ‘Don’t ever let anybody tell you that you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you got to protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period.’ It was a quote borne out of the need to silent the many voices in your head and around you that suggest to you to follow well defined average paths and tell you that’s where you belong.

Though, a sporting tale, the story of Leicester City is a classic poster-boy case for anyone harboring great ambitions (emphasis on anyone & great ambitions). This was a football Club that was reeling at the bottom of the premier league table about a year ago with all the odds suggesting an inevitability of tier two football in the Championship. Today, Leicester City have not just emerged Champions of the elite Barclays English Premier League, they have even more completed the epilogue to a sublime sporting narrative that will both be the preoccupation of future historians, and a springboard for anyone with dreams.
It is somewhat of a cliché in modern football that money ultimately breeds success. The Madrid Galaticos and the reigns of Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour in Chelsea and Manchester City respectively, are firm examples of how fortune can buy trophies. Leicester City have proven to be the outliers to this trend. From hosting League One football about a decade ago, King Power stadium will now play host to the crème de la crème of European clubs. The tale is pure magic especially when one considers that the club was almost doomed last season. Today, Leicester have added a sequel to their 132 year history that changes everything. The entire team must hold their head up high in absolute pride. They fought for each other, and played for each other. From the save hands of Kasper Schmeichel, to the sublime leadership of Wes Morgan to the tireless feet of N’golo Kante to the prolific boots of Jamie Vardy, the players have achieved something no one but they believed in. In the Leicester story lays a motivation for smaller clubs in the league. Nothing can reinforce the point more than the Leister story that anything is possible in football if you dare to believe and want it bad enough.

In Claudio Ranieri, Leicester possesses a manager that has long been dismissed as an ‘has-been’ a nearly man and a tinkerman at best. Having voyaged round 14 clubs in his 28 years managerial career, the Italian has managed to somehow recreate himself and reinvented his tactical nous. He was dismissed by Greece in 2014 unceremoniously, and some pundits believed that that was the final nail to his managerial coffin. However, Claudio has defied all the odds. He has never won the league in every club he had managed. The closest he has come is second place in England (Chelsea) and in France (Monaco). No doubt, this is so much a personal redemption for Claudio as it is for the rest of the Foxes loyalists.

The incredibility of this story is not hinged on luck, as Real Madrid manager, Zinedine Zidane noted, there was no luck in that triumph; they deserved it. For while the bookmakers waited for an eventual collapse at some point, the Foxes kept amassing points. When they needed to win ugly, they did. When they needed to scrap a point, they did. And when they had to soak in pressure and park the bus, they stationed the bus with sheer elegant.

However, when all of this sinks in and the dust begins to settle, the big question for Leicester will be what next for them. With such untold success comes an inflated expectation. Life in the Champions League will be a different kettle of fish, and with a season ahead where all of Chelsea, City and most probably, United will be heralding managerial watershed, the Foxes will have the job of defending their crown well cut out for them. Having said that, this is not the time to be encumbered with tomorrow’s thoughts. Leicester City and everyone associated with them have just earned their moment in the sun and they deserved to merry-on in that as long as they can muster. We might probably never see such a thing replicate itself for a long time to come in Sporting history and it is for that reason that the surreal story of Leicester City cannot reach a point when it begins to attain a status of ‘stale news.’

7 Little Ways to Make Life Simpler

1. Identify what’s most important, and eliminate the rest. – This may sound like a drastic measure to some, but it’s really not. Today will quickly fill up with time-wasting activities if you aren’t careful. Thus, you must remember that being productive isn’t just about getting things done – it’s also about leaving things undone. The simplicity and efficiency of today relies heavily on the elimination of non-essential tasks. You must identify what’s most important to you, and then eliminate as much as you possibly can of everything else.

2. Declutter your physical space. – Decluttering your physical space not only makes things more organized, but it also leads to a less cluttered mental space. The visual distractions in your environment pull on you and distract you in more ways than you likely realize. If you’re holding on to things you don’t need, let go and donate them to someone who does. Give yourself some extra breathing room. And remember, it’s not just how many (or how few) things you own that matters – it’s whether you make those things count. For example, it’s better to have three great books on your bookshelf that you’re actually going to read rather than 300 that only take up space.

3. Schedule at least one distraction-free time block each day. – Distractions are nothing more than complications. So once you know you’re focusing on what’s important, and your space is relatively clutter-free, eliminating all distractions for a set time while you work is one of the most effective ways to get things done. Just lock your door, put a sign up, turn off your phone, close your email application, disconnect your internet connection, whatever it takes. You can’t remain in hiding forever, but you can be twice as peaceful and twice as productive while you are.

4. Leave space between everything on your to-do list. – It’s tempting to fill in every waking minute of the day with tasks. Don’t do this to yourself. Leave space. The space between the things you do is just as important as the things you do. Remember, your overarching goal is living a life uncluttered by most of the things people fill their lives with, leaving you with space for what’s truly important. A life that isn’t constant busyness, rushing and stress, but instead mindful contemplation, creation and connection with people and projects that bring meaning into your life.

5. Disconnect from the drama. – When your day gets stressful and the people around you aren’t helping, keep in mind that the battle you’re going through is never fueled by the things other people do; it is fueled by your mind that gives these things importance. Even if you have a good reason to be angry and resentful, don’t. Channel your energy into thoughts and actions that actually benefit your life – build positive daily rituals that build YOU. And as you move forward positively, remember, there is a huge amount of simplicity and freedom that comes into your life when you take nothing personally.

6. Let go of life’s uncontrollable outcomes. – When you attempt to control too much, you complicate things, and thus you enjoy too little. Sometimes you just need to let go, take a deep breath and love what is. Make mistakes, learn from the realities around you, laugh about it all and then move along. Waste not a minute on outcomes you can’t control. This, I’ve learned, is the best way to be in all walks of life… You can stop trying to change people, and just let go and dissolve into their presence – just notice who they truly are, just appreciate every idiosyncratic quirk. You can stop complaining about your life circumstances, about your losses, about how the world is, and just let go and love what is. Just be. Just accept. Just appreciate.

7. Reflect on the goodness. – One of the primary reasons we complicate our lives is because we become ungrateful. We lose our enthusiasm and then we go looking for it in all the wrong places. We think we need more of everything to find it again, when in fact we need less. We need less clutter, less distraction, less drama and less busyness, so we can create the space we once had to appreciate what we have. And what we have is always more than enough. Reflect on this. Never let all the things you want make you forget about all the things you have. Consider how very fortunate you are. Consider it every day.

(MARCANDANGEL).

Fixing Nigeria: The Place of Common Sense

Nothing more aptly sums up the despondency currently felt by Nigerians than the video of a frustrated Nigerian man sitting on the roof top of his taxi in one of the monstrous fuel queues in Lagos. When interviewed on what he thought of the current difficulties facing the nation, he responded in Yoruba ‘It is better all of us just died. Not a few, we should all just die and end this once and for all.’ The video went viral on Instagram and while I’m not sure a vast majority of Nigerians even with all the perils bedeviling the nation will want to die, the video was a rude reminder of how deteriorating our national life has become that death is even considered a suitable escape route.

It is a shame that in the midst of these perilous times, the national political discourse has been a verbal slugfest between the so-called wailers and the #IstandwithBuhari disciples. Tragically, this is the vicious circle of our political contemplations nowadays. It is never about the issues, it is always about those who want the president to fail because in their universe a certain Goodluck Jonathan was the best thing to have happened to Nigeria since creation, and those who believe that President Buhari remains the messiah to deliver us into the Promised Land. The energy devoted by these bi-polar apostles in driving home their point almost defies belief. And in the midst of this political tirade, we are almost a nation in comatose.

I belong to the school of thought that say it’s still early days to pass judgment on the administration of president Buhari and the jury will still be out for a while on that. However, the early days and signs of delivering a ‘Change’ he so equivocally dangled before us during the electioneering period remains doubtful on so many evidences of today. As captured by Okey Ndibe in his article recently ‘The evidence is that, for all the years he spent running for the office of the Nigerian president, Mr. Buhari had little or no vision of the direction he intended to move the country. He took more than four months to produce a list of his ministers, and turned out to be a predictable and tepid cabinet. That timetable said something about the man and his state craft.’

For all his commitment in waging the war against corruption, President Buhari must realize that fighting corruption is not an end in itself. A corrupt free state is only part of a jigsaw that will translate into delivering a system where the dividends of democracy will be delivered to the people. Yet, as Femi Falana noted recently, he is not winning this war. Building firm institutions and a reform of the judicial system to position it in combating corruption is the answer. Our courts as they currently are, are ill-equipped to effectively see this battle through, and are infested by an avalanche of dubious clauses and crooked men in wig that will cower under the weight of a political heavyweight. Until this is done, corruption will always fight back, with venom.

It is not rocket science to fix Nigeria. While we all know that the recuperating period of a nation that is economically and socially on her knees will take some time, Nigerians should not be made to agonizingly suffer, before seeing the happy days. As a people, we have gone through a lot already. President Buhari must realize that whatever reforms and policies he chooses to pursue, no matter how genuinely intended they might be, must have a human face to it and not leave the citizenry in greater quagmire. While the thorough revival of Nigeria will take a while, palliatives and quick wins are expected in the short term. There are lots of quick wins that ought to have been made by this administration. The establishment of anti-corruption courts, a refurbishment of the transport system, electoral sanity, re-orientation campaigns and the formulation of a holistic economic policy are not unconventional and ingenious ideas in the short-term. These are few points of references that this government could have, and can still use in registering early lead on the scoreboard while the huge issues of tackling unemployment and sanitizing the Petroleum sector remains work in progress. As a matter of fact, during the recent fuel crises that crippled the nation, there were palliative measures the government should have considered. Fuel rationing and flooding the main cities with sponsored transport vehicles to provide an alternative to commuters wouldn’t have been a novel idea. Moreover, while the queues were overwhelming, an efficient Road safety agency and security operatives could have helped to ease the traffic logjam that was a consequence of the scarcity.

The point remains that this government is too reactive in dealing with the issues confronting the nation. It might not have created the plethora of problems, but it was voted in to fix it. Those in government should be under no illusion or ever conceive the condescending idea that they are doing the people a favour. In a country of over 170 million people, government officials must count themselves fortunate to be steering the national ship. Our country surely needs fixing on many levels, but it is not rocket science. President Buhari must show an enhanced will, the three tiers of government must display an urgency in action and we the people must wake up from the delusion that one man will conjure a magic wand that will bring uhuru and el dorado overnight.

7 Things to Remember When Everything Goes Wrong

1. Pain is part of growing.
Sometimes life closes doors because it’s time to move forward. And that’s a good thing because we often won’t move unless circumstances force us to. When times are tough, remind yourself that no pain comes without a purpose. Move on from what hurt you, but never forget what it taught you. Just because you’re struggling doesn’t mean you’re failing. Every great success requires some type of worthy struggle to get there. Good things take time. Stay patient and stay positive. Everything is going to come together; maybe not immediately, but eventually.
Remember that there are two kinds of pain: pain that hurts and pain that changes you. When you roll with life, instead of resisting it, both kinds help you grow.

2. Everything in life is temporary.
Every time it rains, it stops raining. Every time you get hurt, you heal. After darkness there is always light – you are reminded of this every morning, but still you often forget, and instead choose to believe that the night will last forever. It won’t. Nothing lasts forever.
So if things are good right now, enjoy it. It won’t last forever. If things are bad, don’t worry because it won’t last forever either. Just because life isn’t easy at the moment, doesn’t mean you can’t laugh. Just because something is bothering you, doesn’t mean you can’t smile. Every moment gives you a new beginning and a new ending. You get a second chance, every second. You just have to take it and make the best of it.
3. Worrying and complaining changes nothing.
Those who complain the most, accomplish the least. It’s always better to attempt to do something great and fail than to attempt to do nothing and succeed. It’s not over if you’ve lost; it’s over when you do nothing but complain about it. If you believe in something, keep trying. Don’t let the shadows of the past darken the doorstep of your future. Spending today complaining about yesterday won’t make tomorrow any brighter. Take action instead. Let what you’ve learned improve how you live. Make a change and never look back.
And regardless of what happens in the long run, remember that true happiness begins to arrive only when you stop complaining about your problems and you start being grateful for all the problems you don’t have.

4. Your scars are symbols of your strength.

Don’t ever be ashamed of the scars life has left you with. A scar means the hurt is over and the wound is closed. It means you conquered the pain, learned a lesson, grew stronger, and moved forward. A scar is the tattoo of a triumph to be proud of. Don’t allow your scars to hold you hostage. Don’t allow them to make you live your life in fear. You can’t make the scars in your life disappear, but you can change the way you see them. You can start seeing your scars as a sign of strength and not pain.
Rumi once said, “The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” Nothing could be closer to the truth. Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most powerful characters in this great world are seared with scars. See your scars as a sign of “YES! I MADE IT! I survived and I have my scars to prove it! And now I have a chance to grow even stronger.”

5. Every little struggle is a step forward.
In life, patience is not about waiting; it’s the ability to keep a good attitude while working hard on your dreams, knowing that the work is worth it. So if you’re going to try, put in the time and go all the way. Otherwise, there’s no point in starting. This could mean losing stability and comfort for a while, and maybe even your mind on occasion. It could mean not eating what, or sleeping where, you’re used to, for weeks on end. It could mean stretching your comfort zone so thin it gives you a nonstop case of the chills. It could mean sacrificing relationships and all that’s familiar. It could mean accepting ridicule from your peers. It could mean lots of time alone in solitude. Solitude, though, is the gift that makes great things possible. It gives you the space you need. Everything else is a test of your determination, of how much you really want it.

6. Other people’s negativity is not your problem.
Be positive when negativity surrounds you. Smile when others try to bring you down. It’s an easy way to maintain your enthusiasm and focus. When other people treat you poorly, keep being you. Don’t ever let someone else’s bitterness change the person you are. You can’t take things too personally, even if it seems personal. Rarely do people do things because of you. They do things because of them.
Above all, don’t ever change just to impress someone who says you’re not good enough. Change because it makes you a better person and leads you to a brighter future. People are going to talk regardless of what you do or how well you do it. So worry about yourself before you worry about what others think. If you believe strongly in something, don’t be afraid to fight for it. Great strength comes from overcoming what others think is impossible. All jokes aside, your life only comes around once. This is IT. So do what makes you happy and be with whoever makes you smile, often.

7. The best thing you can do is to keep going.
Don’t be afraid to get back up – to try again, to love again, to live again, and to dream again. Don’t let a hard lesson harden your heart. Life’s best lessons are often learned at the worst times and from the worst mistakes. There will be times when it seems like everything that could possibly go wrong is going wrong. And you might feel like you will be stuck in this rut forever, but you won’t. When you feel like quitting, remember that sometimes things have to go very wrong before they can be right. Sometimes you have to go through the worst, to arrive at your best.

(MARCANDANGEL).