The Buddha confirmed it:

Life is hard. Stress is hard.

Pressure is wearing on the strongest of hearts, the most joyful of relationships.

Major life decisions don’t wait for calm, easy, peaceful, successful times.

Social media serves us up happy scenes, often, but what lies beneath is the truth: joy and pain, sunshine and rain.

Family can help (can). Community helps. Meditation helps. Walks or bike rides or even just getting outside in Nature helps. Communication helps. Meditation helps. Dedicating oneself to benefit of all helps.

But loneliness is real, and suffering is real, and perspective gets lost in the tense swirl of insistent change.

So here’s a recipe for the kind of love to build a dream on: do the hard work of remaining open, vulnerable. Let yourself cry. Insist on awkward communication vs. silent tense hurt grudges.

May we navigate all the little hard choices this life serves up. May we hold the vision of the morning sun in our hearts. May we find our way.

I love you, Kelsey—whatever tomorrow brings.