Life comes in stages. For instance, you go through your teen years; the teen years give way to your twenties; life is good and you glide into your thirties; and so on and so on. Life goes on. The same can be said for our inspiration, our motivation, our encouragement, etc. — they may not all come wrapped up together in a nice gift-wrapped box, but we work our way through them nonetheless.

While we’re busy living our lives in stages, we sometimes encounter people who feed us their negativity and we unwittingly swallow it whole. That negativity seeps deep within us and, in no time, we begin to believe the nonsense that we’ve been fed. So, yeah . . .

There are times in life when you think you can’t. You can.

There are times when you think you won’t. You will.

There are times when you think you aren’t . . . enough, worthy, valued. You are.

So tell yourself: I can. I will. I am.