In The Margins w/ Sherri Williams

Pandemic. Insurrection. Trump elected, again.

Major events in recent years threatened our mental health and probably knocked us off our balance. The chaos and challenges continued to hurl toward us and shake our faith and foundation. Some of us faltered and rebounded while others fell off, left us, left the earth.

But we persisted in the midst of all that threatened to crush us. We are still here.

As we enter a new year and the second half of what has been a tumultuous decade, persistence will be the key to survival for many of us.

Persist to draw boundaries that protect our self-esteem and mental health. Persist the urge to stay down when life knocks us to the ground. Persist to resist facism and white supremacy as they both grow more insidious and mainstream.

This year, like others, will present challenges.

Although we all survived so much already, many of us are tired and don’t have a lot of fight left in us. So, we must choose to preserve the energy that we do have and use it wisely — give our attention and put action toward the issues that advocate for the most vulnerable and marginalized in society.

We can focus on cultivating joy and pleasure in our lives — actively creating bouts of bliss, intentionally injecting happiness between difficult times. That was particularly helpful for me last year as I faced some of the most serious health challenges in my life.

I worked my way back to myself by really trying to concentrate on what was going right in my life and not what was going wrong.

I didn’t remain stuck in the sadness of illness. Although it was challenging, I continued on with my life.

As the great urban poet Tariq Trotter (Black Thought from The Roots) said, “I shall proceed and continue to rock the mic.”

So, let’s continue together this year — continue growing, striving to be our best selves and persist against all of the things that threaten our happiness and health.