Inspiring Words For Times of Despair & Struggle

The internet’s supply of shareable quotes promoting hope and joy seems hefty compared to content about despair. But sadness and struggle are a part of our lived experience and important to address. Wars, news of suffering, and heartache are never far thanks to technology and our attachment to media. If you’re newish here, my educational background includes professional counseling. I value an exploration of interiors both at home and within us. Suffering alone is painful, and to feel seen helps. This collection of struggle themed quotes may inspire deeper reflection. Wherever you are on life’s journey, I hope today you’ll be extra gentle with yourself.

Inspiring Words for Times of Struggle

Last year was a season that found me moving through grief, and I find that in those more tender chapters, unhealed parts of me (wounds and fears) rise from the subconscious. The messy work of healing and hurting during loss finds me getting still. Prayer, creating art, opening to music, connecting with nature, and turning to trustworthy companions helps. Still, there remains a deep loneliness and the real sense that this journey is my own.

Wherever you are on your healing path, I honor you. The work of recovery from trauma and loss is sacred.

While it may not seem at all natural to regard brokenheartedness as evidence of courage, surely it is. To love, to truly love and give your heart away is to place yourself in harm’s way.

I find that inspirational words of wisdom and encouragement soothe by providing language to navigate waves of sadness that arrive. Our emotional vocabulary always feels inadequate when heaviness arrives.

These photos of tropical beauty and orchids blooming in a conservatory near me were snapped during an especially brutal winter in 2018. They remind me of a season of suffering and perseverance.

This book of essays may speak to you if you are experiencing low mood (not clinical depression or major depressive disorder) and could use some language, along with poignant reflections.

I find reading about struggle and descriptions of despair to be helpful because when I feel low, it often feels impossible to find words for the ineffable.

For example, the words above are a reminder to me that as much as ideas of restoration appeal to me, it is often the case that wholemaking is the work of NEW CREATION.

What is it about the fresh, all new, slate wiped clean that stirs up such resistance in me? I prefer more control of what’s already there. Hahahaha. Maybe my resistance arises since a part of me knows the new is preceded by death of the old. Reshaping and refashioning would bypass the misery in my control freaky mode. To surrender it all to make space to receive the new thing? This demands courage.

I long for relief from pain, recovery from illness, and restoration when desolation comes, yet I am often hesitant to release attachments. My strong will imagines wholeness will look like a lovely mosaic of healed wounds or reconstructive surgery. Turns out wholeness is wrapped in mystery.

To trust that this hollowing in the dark is purposeful preparation for something necessary and new? This surely demands faith, and mine is often wobbly.

So often I compare my personal trauma and grief to that of others and shame rushes in. Echoes of “count your blessings” from the past and present reverberate and stoke the shame.

But we’re all wired differently with varying sensitivities and capacities.

It’s why I so often encourage us to be more gentle with ourselves. Pointing fingers, comparison, judging ourselves harshly, violence directed inward…they pollute the emotional atmosphere where we are meant to breathe again.

Do you believe most folks are doing the best that they can? I do.

Is everyone good inside? That’s tricky.

Many people feel convinced they are somehow protected from what may come.

James Finley, a poet/mystic/teacher I respect says:

“If we are absolutely grounded in the absolute love of God that protects us from nothing even as it sustains us in all things, then we can face all things with courage and tenderness and touch the hurting places in others and in ourselves with love.”

And to this I respond: good gracious, I don’t know much of anything at all. What does that sort of groundedness look or feel like? A lack of protection sustains me through and through? This vulnerable stance is ultimately solid ground?

WOW.

Invitations to deep rest are easily shooed away in American culture. We are told to push through, hustle, buy this, and fake it til you make it. Anything but getting very quiet and still!

So many of the encouraging messages I’m sharing seem to welcome feelings of depression. I know that may be rather counterintuitive to hear.

So is the idea of cherishing yourself. It isn’t greedy to do so. Why not cooperate with the lifegiving processes happening beneath our consciousness?

When we welcome our wounded parts, acknowledge and love them all the way through, we are doing the work of reconciliation. We show up to participate in our healing as a healer.

I am often encouraged by Parker Palmer’s work. Since he has suffered through seasons of darkness, he seems able to join us in ours.

Words of Understanding to Support Your Journey

Overcoming Overwhelm is another resource that helped me clarify my values and become more aware of the patterns leading to overwhelm.

There’s a reason so many messages about braving the wilderness exist. Modern life has left us vulnerable in new ways. We can feel unsafe and in need of hope and courage.

Bravely living your one wild life looks different for each of us, and I continue to learn in fresh ways how it almost always involves disappointing other people!

Seasons arrive where it’s time to set a new boundary or remove an old one. Our values shift. The rearranging seems to be a natural part of moving forward on the journey.

If your low mood should shift into depression or begins to concern you, reach out to your doctor right away, just as if it were physical illness.

My heart is with you, especially if you are struggling to get a foothold. I feel tender toward those with shaky faith who long for: an anchor, solid ground, and signs of hope.

Hang in there. What I continue to learn is we can still climb and progress while weak and shaky. Even full of fear, we can move forward imperfectly when we seek the grace for what seems impossible. You’re very brave. Though everything is fading and passing away, there’s an energy that remains deathless, pure, and infinitely flowing as it heals us. Inch toward it.

Peace to you right where you are.

-michele

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