The greatest set-up is telling ourselves that “it” will get easier.

“It” can take many forms… but generally speaking, it is life and all of the contents in it.

We think we are doing ourselves a solid, when the going gets tough, to imagine that this is the worst of it… that once we make it through, it’ll all be easier. Or, at least — we convince ourselves — it won’t be harder than this.

Maybe this is some form of motivation that we think will give us the strength/courage/fortitude/endurance to make it through. And perhaps it does to a certain extent.

But what it also does, even if unintentionally, is set us up for shock/defeat/conflict when something is, in fact, just as hard if not harder.

And, from what I can tell, “it” will at some point most definitely get harder.

What I also know, is that each time we maneuver through the hard parts, we are building an internal knowing that we can and will make it through. 

We carry a certain wisdom into the new hard parts that we couldn’t have gained in any other way. 

That wisdom is what informs resilience. 

That wisdom creates a kind of non-specific map or guidebook that can lead us through from a sturdier and more grounded place within ourselves. 

And that sturdiness gives us the more truthful and honest strength we need to navigate what life gives us rather than the fleeting energy or motivation that comes from the false hope of guaranteed ease.

“It” will not get easier. But I promise you that you will meet it with greater strength, greater wisdom, and with more capacity to see possibility. It’s not possible not to.