My mother always told me when I was down and out or going through an odd phase in life, “In life, we have seasons of losing, winning, and standbys, but what matters is the one who endures the most in the end.” When I first heard this quote from her, it was a great life lesson to learn. However, I think this quote speaks even louder for me and maybe even others who are currently in similar situations and phases in their lives. I recently just graduated college and have no job or internship lined up with my major or career path I want. In addition to that, I also had major surgery that left me in a long and tedious recovery process with a lot of time to think, do nothing, and watch everyone move along to pursue their dreams and hopes in life.

So let’s just say this led me into a depression, asking, “Why me”? And all this couldn’t have come at a better time; the world just “opened up and everything in it.” So one would say things kept piling up for me mentally. I was quite literally watching everyone move on with life while I sat still in mine.

I feel like at one time or another in our lives, we’ve all experienced that feeling of people and life passing us by. I hadn’t been here for a while, referring to this state of waiting and doing nothing, biding my time until I was healthy and able again. And I did two things that you should never do when you’re at a low point in your life: get on social media and compare your current self to everyone else’s highlight reels. There is nothing good that can come from it, trust me. So I went back into the memory banks to remember what I always did to get myself out of the slumps or depressions that I had in the past. But I couldn’t physically do everything I usually would do, and I was left with just my mind and a lot of time to sulk. This tested my endurance and motivation to get better. I was depleted mentally and physically. One could say I had no more happy and positive fuel.

But at this awkward time, for some odd reason, the story of “The Tortoise and the Hare” popped into my head. We all know this story from our youth of how this slow turtle beat this fast rabbit in a race. Common sense would say that the rabbit wins every time in a race, but this time the turtle won. Not because of his Godly speed, but because of his endurance, his ability to persevere and to keep moving forward against the odds. The turtle didn’t dwell on all the previous times he had probably lost to the rabbit. He looked at this challenge with a fresh set of eyes and a fresh mindset that wasn’t held back by what had happened in the past. I think that’s what we all need to do, no matter the situation, the odds, or circumstances.

One of my favorite people in my life told me recently, “You can sulk, but no amount of sulking will change the situation, only weigh you down. You have to endure till things get better.”

And she was right; no one was going to save me from my current despair but future me, more specifically, God’s promises to the future me for my patience and ability to trust Him. I think the one thing that I believed growing up that was a lie in itself was the belief that every day will be great and that we all will have perfect lives. That’s not realistic, nor humanly possible. But I like to think that this stage of my life and the Tortoise and the Hare story is trying to teach me, and hopefully you, that you have to endure challenging times. This race we’re running called life isn’t won by the swiftest, but by the ones who endure the longest. Even God speaks about this. “So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised” (Hebrews 10:35-36 NLT). I hope you all win your races, not by being quick or in a hurry, but by trusting the process and trusting God who is always with you.