I'm hearing it every day.

"I've lost my joy."
"I'm barely hanging onto my hope."
"This is all too much."
"Can this all just be over?"

I hear you loud and clear, friend.

And I've thought every one of those thoughts too in the last few months. I'm guessing that probably most people have.

I'm going to share a reminder that so many of us need, and that so many friends I've talked to have said helped them.

Joy and struggle can coexist. It doesn't have to be one or the other. So often I think we fall into the mindset of believing we are only allowed to feel one. But truth is we are capable of feeling more than one emotion at a time.

Some days one of those might ring louder in your heart than the other, but don't feel guilty for them both being there. And please remember that you don't have to feel guilty for feeling joy in this time, because we could all use some more of that. You also don't have to feel guilty if you're still not feeling all that joyful; I think we all understand.

Just remember that all these emotions swirling in your heart doesn't make you crazy.

You are not limited to one emotion at a time, and you are allowed to let that joy and struggle coexist. It's okay.