Your dreams are still in view, they are just covered by some clouds, but the view is still there.
My therapist reminded me of this recently.
When 2025 started, I was so full of hope. I kept saying how 2025 was going to be my year.
4 days in, everything flipped upside down on me. My ex had lost his job, and that meant that we no longer had health insurance. My anxiety went into overdrive about my daughter, her health and her safety.
Strangely enough, last January, we were dealing with the scariest moment of my life after her first seizure right before her 2nd birthday.
In addition to the anxiety caused by the health insurance, child support has been non existent, and I’ve been struggling to get by. I never thought I’d truly be living the epitome of a single mom life, struggling to make ends meet, but here I am.
So now, on top of not having child support, I also am dishing out more money than I can fathom on health insurance for me and Charlotte.
To say that my brain has been spinning, is an understatement. I mentioned to my therapist how everything feels heavier now, the days are harder to get through and I am just so overwhelmed with fear and sadness.
I told her that I was so upset that this year was so quickly falling apart.
And that’s when she reminded me that it wasn’t.
There are just some clouds in the way of what I viewed for this year, but it is all still in reach.
I just have to wait for the clouds to clear. Because they always do.
And I don’t have to be a passive participant as the clouds pass by. I can take control of this challenging time underneath the clouds. I can center myself with exercise, giving myself a hug, journaling, dancing and affirming myself that this too shall pass. I can give myself grace on the hard days, and find space to motivate myself on the lighter days.
As the clouds roll by, I can take active steps to continue to heal, so that when the sky is clear again and that view is clearly in sight, I’ll be more grounded, more sure and more prepared for the chapter that is ahead.
If you’re under a dark cloud right now, like I am, if you’re feeling overwhelmed or going through a depressive episode, just hold onto hope that the cloud will eventually fade away. The view of your dreams is still in reach, you just have to keep holding on. You have to believe. You have to have hope. Even if the hope you have is so small that you can barely grasp it, hold onto it, with everything you have.
Because it’s that hope that gets us through. It’s the hope and belief that we are going to be okay, that gives us strength to fight through the cloud of pain. It is the compassion for ourselves that allows us to see that we are worthy of seeing the view again.
2025 will still be my year. I am claiming it. I am manifesting it. Times are really, really hard for me and after the past few years, I could really use a break. But the clouds seem to really love coming to me, haha. Regardless, I am claiming this year as my year and I am holding onto hope with all that I’ve got, that the storm will pass, the clouds will clear, and the view of all I dreamed of will be in sight again. And I cannot wait, because that view is one of the most beautiful ones I’ve ever seen – it includes me, the most resilient version of me conquering my goals.
So just keep holding onto hope. This too shall pass. I know it will.
Ivy Watts, MPH, Mental Health Empowerment Speaker
Author of You Are Worth Fighting For
Ivy Watts Speaks