For anyone struggling in this moment....

We see you! We feel you! We love you!

***I would love if you might like to hear me read this for you….just hit the play button and you will hear my voice….There is an extra surprise in this recording for you and when you hear it, I’d love for you to close your eyes…..

Hello dear Substack family,

How are you doing? I hope you are keeping well and I hope life is going smoothly for you. I open this week’s substack to send all my healing, strength and love to you especially if things are being hard or stressful in this moment. I hope that no matter what, you know that you are loved and I wish, hope and pray that life eases on you soon and that in time, everything will be ok I promise. You are doing brilliant. You are stepping through this situation as best you can and that is all anyone can do when life gets tricky. Step by step. Day by day. And somedays hour by hour.

Life is not easy. If anything life can be very hard. If sickness, worry, stress or fear arrives at your door, it can be very tough to see a way beyond that moment. You are human and you are trying your best. Nobody escapes these heavy things and sometimes, the best people seem to get more than others. Sometimes the best people who don’t complain are the ones carrying the heaviest loads. More often than not, the people who complain often and loudly might not be the ones who we need to keep an eye on. Sometimes the quiet ones are the strong and brave soldiers in this world. But no matter how strong a person is, the comfort, support and love of another is the key to us all coming through tough times. And that is why I am writing this letter today. I want you to know you are not alone and no matter what is bearing heavy on you in this moment, that in time, things will come right for you I promise.

My favourite character is ‘Winnie The Pooh’ as many of you will already know and the reason for that is because of the following phrase, ‘You are braver than you believe. You are stronger than you seem. And you are smarter than you think.’ And you are. You are all these things and more. But let’s lean into that phrase for a moment. I’m going to ask you to do something with me for a second. I’m going to ask you to repeat that phrase with me. Ok. So here we go and let’s phrase it in a way we are talking to ourselves. ‘I am braver than I believe. I am stronger than I seem. And I am smarter than I think.’ Just by saying that phrase with me just once, your brain and heart will hear it & ultimately feel it too. And see the wonderful thing about being human is that what we tell ourselves, the belief system we instil inside our thoughts; ultimately effect how we feel. So if just for one moment, you are to take that phrase and write it down - I would love if you wrote it down - and in your moment of wobble, you start to repeat it to yourself, I promise you, in time, you will indeed believe that statement to be true. BECAUSE IT IS! You are braver than you believe. You are stronger than you seem. And you are smarter than you think.

If you heart is broken, if your head is full, if your legs are dreary and if the world looks dark in this moment, I hope you know that this letter & my voice are especially for you. I want to remind you that you are a wonderful human and even though this moment is very very hard and it feels impossible that things can & will come right again for you. I promise, you will come through this moment.

(and now close your eyes…….)

In life, no path is straight or smooth. Instead our roads are individual and they can be very twisty and turny (made up word yes) and more often than not, we can hit a pothole or even seven. But that’s ok. This is life in all its glory and we have the strength to survive inside us. Life is not meant to be easy. Sadly it can’t be. If it was, we wouldn’t be living in the world that is ours. Maybe in a computerised created version, it might seem perfect but perfect is not real. Perfect is imperfect. The best human is one that is aware of all aspects of their make up - strength and weakness and dark and light & these aspects live inside us all but not at pay enough attention to both side. We are human. We are not perfect. We are on a path that asks us everyday to show up and try. And once we are trying we are winning. Somedays I know that doesn’t feel like that, but once you are trying, you are moving in the right direction. And I promise you, step by step, day by day and somedays hour by hour is all you can manage and that is ok. Don’t be hard on yourself. When the world is being hard, that is the moment to lean in and remind yourself, you are doing great. And if you have forgotten, that is why I am here, I am here to remind you that you are doing great!

The hardest part of day to day life and life in general is that often we feel alone with our worries. We feel others are not in the same space, place or mindset as us, and yes that is true for some but not for all. See once we keep a few people close to us that love us, we will never truly feel completely alone in this world. And that is the key. To keep your inner circle tight, & when I say this, all you need is one person. To have one person in your life who you can lean on - that is all we need. For the days where you feel like giving up, for the days where the light is little, for the days where the darkness is heavy, they are the days to lean out. Lean out on your inner circle. Lean out on people who love you. Lean out and ask for help. Lean out and share that you are not coping or that you are losing your battle with your thoughts or your feelings or possible both. I promise you once you lean out, the light within you will start to brighten. It’s amazing what sharing your problems with another can do. It is indeed the magic of human connection. It is the magic of not only surviving on this planet but it is where you can once again thrive too. I know it’s hard to believe that in this moment but I promise you, just to hold on, one more day, one more step, one more hour, can lead you to the strength you need to pass by this moment of darkness. The light will shine again I promise you.

So in coming to a close in this week’s letter I want to remind you as you read this or are listening to my voice, with each word - you are growing stronger. By acknowledging you are struggling, strength is building. See the biggest step in moving through a hard time is recognising you are in one. And then to go gently on yourself from that moment on. Then you can lean in and remind yourself that the world is indeed a hard place and we do not need to be hard on ourselves as well…No instead to be kind to ourselves in these hard moments is key. To remind ourselves that you are handling the situation better than your old self would have and that alone is worth focusing on. And then to also allow yourself to lean on someone who loves us in this moment because that is where the extra strength can come from. Placing trust in someone else to help us see the light is instrumental and will help you move though and out of this dark moment. In doing that, you are reminded and now know you are not alone. And that is why I am writing to you. I am here with you. You are loved more than anyone could ever explain. I love you. You are noticed even when you think you are. I notice you. You are seen even when you think nobody is looking. I see you. You are braver that you believe. You are. You are stronger that you seem. You are. And you are smarter than you think. You are!

Lean in. Lean out. And of course keep looking up!

Love and light from my heart to yours, now and always,

And also a huge thanks to all my inner circle and magic humans who help me lean into my light and also support me when I lean out. I am so lucky and I love you all dearly! You know who you are! Thanks for being the light in my darkness & I hope I am your light in your darkness too!

Love you lots,

Lou x

Extra bits:

I’ve included a song here below that I hope it will lift your heart. (oh and the band are Irish too) - Double win! ;) The lyrics are powerful!

Also the song shared in this substack audio recording is from the fabulous Eimear Crehan and the song played is called ‘Come As You Are’. i’d love if you might support Eimear by popping along to her site: www.eimearcrehan.com

Also I’m including a video I made of ‘Darkness into Light’ Walk that I took part in last weekend & I was the ambassador for in our efforts to try and prevent suicide and self harm! It’s all our responsibly to try help each other when we are feeling low and I was honoured to be part of this very emotional and very powerful fundraising and awareness walk in my local area. Ireland I’m so proud of you in a million ways and our efforts to lift the stigma on suicide, mental health and all forms of darkness is something I will always strongly advocate and support. For more information please pop along to www.darknessintolight.ie and www.pieta.ie

Also to mention Granny Nancy - The Story of Ireland’s Oldest Lady can be purchased from www.livingandlaughingwithlou.com

And my social media home where the most amazing Facebook Family live is linked here. Come join us and connect with the most amazing people you will ever meet:

www.facebook.com/livingandlaughingwithlou

And also to share two of my favourite substack writers here too:

The legends that are

hi, lauren deborah!

and

Guided By Angels

Please subscribe to their magic:

https://laurendeborah.substack.com and https://tracyo.substack.com

I’d love if you might leave a comment below if you enjoyed this letter. Thank you always for your support, time and effort, I appreciate YOU much xx