The year that looked perfect— But wasn’t

On paper, 2023 should have been the best year of my life.

I got promoted. I got married. I went on a beautiful honeymoon. I celebrated friends’ weddings, babies, milestones, and more.

And yet— it was the hardest year of my life.

I remember sitting in my therapist’s office, over and over again. Confused. Heartbroken. Trying to make sense of the disconnect between how my life looked and how it felt. But even in the thick of it, I was committed to making something of it.

When life gets really hard, it’s natural to ask, Why is this happening to me? It’s much harder— but far more transformative— to ask, Why might this be happening for me?

What is this hard thing trying to teach me?
What meaning can I possibly make from this?

That’s not always easy to do. In fact, I’ve had plentyyy of therapy sessions where I wasn’t ready to find the lesson. I wasn’t ready to look for meaning. I was too angry. Too hurt. Too lost.

Sometimes, the room is just too dark to look for the light, and that’s okay.
But with time, I’ve come to believe this: even in the darkest rooms, there’s always a light switch. We just have to be willing and ready to reach for it.

Because meaning matters. In fact, meaning is one of the most important foundations of wellbeing. When we find meaning in our work, our relationships, and our challenges, we become more resilient.

We can’t always control the hard things that happen to us.
But we can control how we respond to them.

We can sit in the dark room when we need to.
And when we’re ready, we can reach for the light.

It doesn't necessarily make the hard thing easier, but it does fill our lives with more meaning.