Keep Going

"[T]hough life beckons it is not a sign that it will always look on you in favor. It beckons because you must make your journey, and you soon learn that in that journey there is also disappointment, failure, sorrow, frustration, weariness, and doubt. Just as you were carried along by your determination, you find yourself dragged down by failure. Then you learn that inside you, along with the will to win is a willingness to lose, to stop when the hill seems too steep, when the road becomes too narrow and rough. That willingness will speak to you of self-pity, and sometimes it will plead, and sometimes rant. But always it tries to make you stop."

--Joseph M. Marshall III, Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance

Recently, while wandering aimlessly through a bookstore (something I always relish), I found a priceless little gem of a book called Keep Going. It is a deeply moving book of Lakota wisdom. It is heartwrenching, direct, and lucid--but, at all times, compassionate and wise.

The basic premise of the message is quite simple: no matter what, KEEP GOING. Put one foot in front of the other.

Maybe you'll collapse from exhaustion. Or maybe that one extra step will lead you to your goal. The only way to know for sure is to try--with all one's might.

In depression, our journeys tend to be inward. Face your inner storm; look it straight in the eye--and, with tough-minded compassion, WALK THROUGH IT.

Keep going.

Step by step, descend into your inner self. Dark clouds rumble overhead, and the blinding bursts of lightning startle you...but keep going.

Many paths will branch off, enticing you to take it easy, to choose a less arduous course. Depression does not like to be found.

Keep going.

One step at a time. One.step.at.a.time.

Surely, that is a journey worth taking.