After the Rain: Gentle Reminders for Healing, Courage, and Self-Love

by Alexandra Elle

What would I tell my younger self about mending after being broken?

Hold your hurt, rest in your pain more often, stop running from fear. Don’t be afraid to touch and face what scares you the most. Asking for help doesn’t make you weak. Collapse into vulnerability; that is where you will find resilience. Take care of the soft and tender spots of your grief and process and bandage them up slowly. Rushing to rebuild won’t make you heal any faster.

Learning to soothe our suffering—choosing how to move through our pain—that is where the prize is.

I preferred rejection because it was easier than problem solving and admitting that I was flawed and vulnerable.

Destruction always seems easier than the work of reassembling and acknowledging the very stories that break us down.

But that’s not how pain or pursuit of understanding works. You can’t pretend the aching doesn’t exist. You can’t silence it. Why would you want to? Where is the lesson in that? Instead, sit with it all. Breathe through it and remember to cry. Give it life and let it go.

One of the greatest gifts that life offers is the ability to understand that everything you encounter won’t be what you want it to be.

if you’re stuck in a rut right now, if you’re looking for a way out, and if you’re ready for things to be different, empty your box. Unpack and leave behind anything that is hindering you from being your best self. Running, hiding, and making excuses is always the easy way out. I did it for years. It got me nowhere. Transformation has to start with wanting something better and healthier.