How many lies must be told? How many hearts must be shattered? How long until all hope is lost? Those answers are unknown. The questions posed about the uncertain intentions of man nag at the back of mankind's mind. Asking the unanswerable questions of what is truly right and wrong. When have we finally crossed the line into complete and utter insanity? It is with these questions on my conscience that I walk headfirst into the beginning of the rest of my life. The challenges I will face, it begs the question: is it all worth it? Does it even make sense to go on living, to keep surging forward as the fissures spread further through my already irreparably damaged heart? Are these kinds of thoughts unspeakable and out of place among the thoughts of a girl of my age? Yes, they are. Precisely why I have banished those thoughts from my head. Precisely why I keep trudging on, through hard times that seem to be never ending, because I know that they will end, and better times will come again. Days of happiness without even a shadow of the melancholy that currently takes up the entirety of everyday life.

It is once I reach this realization – that my world will turn around for the better, eventually – and only then, that I can manage to put on a brave face, and steel my nerves for the obstacles to come, and I power through the days troubles as I strive for the happy times that loom up ahead so close and yet so far. In the distance just out of my reach. I stretch, and I make a wild grab at the empty space in front of me. I try to fill the void, patch up the cracks and push through the heartache. I just keep fighting, I hold on to hope because I know there is still some good left in the world, as hard to come by as it may be, it is still there. Humanity has not gone completely out the window, not yet. If we can manage to maintain however loose a grip on it as we so far have managed to do – though not without a struggle – it will pay off in the end if we just hold on a bit longer. Hope will return – even to those deprived of a reason to believe – with happiness in tow. Then the world will be set on the right course once again. Until then, we have to push onward, perish the thought that it can't be done, it can. We will learn to fight through it. Just stay strong and wait out the storm. As with every storm, no matter what the severity of it may be, there is, in the end, a clear sky and sunshine. Let it shed a new found light on the wreckage it has left in it's wake. Let it shine so we can bare witness to the feat that people can accomplish when the need for it is upon us. Through the perseverance that every person, big or small, rich or poor, contains within them, no matter the depth at which it has been buried inside, the need will dredge it up. People will find a way, as they always do, to pick themselves back up. Once on our feet, humanity will find a way to make the world better, to make up for it's sins and it's dark moments. In refusing to give up we are turning over a new leaf, beginning again, and patching the world back up, be it just one slow but steady step at a time, we will make the good times come again. With this realization, I turn my face towards the sun, and I dare to say hello. Hello to a new day, and a world made better through the actions of those who genuinely care.