Lisa Denise Shadwick M.S., M.Ed.

Motivation to Make It Through: Finding the Strength to Keep Going When Life Gets Hard

By Lisa Shadwick

Life has a way of testing us in places we never expected. There are seasons when everything seems to be falling into place, and there are other seasons when we wonder how we are going to make it through another day. We experience disappointment, loss, health challenges, financial difficulties, broken relationships, career setbacks, stress, fear, and moments when our confidence is shaken. During those difficult times, motivation can feel far away.

Throughout my life, I have learned something important: making it through does not mean that the journey will always be easy. It means deciding that the difficulty will not be the end of your story. That is the heart of Motivation to Make It Through.

The book grew from my desire to encourage people when life becomes difficult and to remind them that faith can provide strength when their own strength feels depleted. Throughout the book, I address real struggles, including anger, stress, low self-esteem, negative people, forgiveness, family, setbacks, worry, healing, relationships, and learning when to let go. Although the circumstances may be different for each of us, the need for encouragement is universal.

You Have Already Survived More Than You Realize

When you are standing in the middle of a storm, it can be difficult to see beyond it. Your attention becomes focused on what is happening right now: the problem, the hurt, the disappointment, the diagnosis, the financial strain, or the unanswered question. Sometimes, however, we need to turn around and look behind us.

Think about everything you have already survived. Think about the situations you once believed would break you. Think about the nights you cried and wondered how you were going to continue. Yet you are still here.

One of the messages I emphasize in the book is that the struggles we once thought would destroy us can eventually become sources of strength. What was once a stumbling block can become a stepping stone. That does not mean we have to pretend painful experiences did not hurt. It means we refuse to allow those experiences to permanently define us.

Your past is part of your story, but it does not have to determine your future. Sometimes the evidence that you can make it through your present situation is simply this: you made it through the last one.

Do Not Confuse a Setback with the End

Failure has a way of making us question ourselves. We apply for the job and do not get it. We start the business and things do not go as planned. We enroll in school and struggle. We try to change our habits and fall back into old patterns. After enough disappointments, it becomes easy to think, "Maybe this just isn't for me." However, failing at something does not make you a failure. In Motivation to Make It Through, I encourage readers to keep reaching forward rather than allowing past failures to imprison them. If you have tried seven times, there may still be an eighth opportunity waiting for you.

Success often requires perseverance that nobody sees. People celebrate the degree, but they do not always see the late-night studying. They celebrate the new job, but they do not see the applications that were rejected. They celebrate a successful business, but they do not see the uncertainty that came before it. They celebrate your strength without knowing how many times you had to rebuild it.

Never judge your entire future by one disappointing chapter. A setback may change your direction. It may slow you down. It may require you to adjust your plan. A setback, however, does not automatically mean that you should stop. A delay is not a denial.

Sometimes Motivation Means Refusing to Quit

There will be times when you do not feel motivated. That is important to acknowledge because motivation is often discussed as though successful people wake up excited, confident, and ready every morning. We do not. Sometimes we are tired. Sometimes we are discouraged. Sometimes we question ourselves. Sometimes we want to quit. The difference is what we decide to do next.

One of the strongest messages in my book is, "I refuse to quit." Difficulties reveal something about our character, and growth often occurs during the dark seasons rather than the comfortable ones.

There are moments when holding yourself together is an accomplishment. There are moments when getting out of bed is progress. There are moments when making one phone call, completing one assignment, filling out one application, or saying one prayer is your victory for the day.

Do not underestimate small steps. You do not always have to see the entire staircase. Sometimes you simply need enough courage to take the next step.

Your Words Matter

One of the themes throughout Motivation to Make It Through is the power of what we speak over ourselves. We can become our own greatest encourager or our own greatest critic. Pay attention to your internal conversation. Are you constantly telling yourself, "I can't do this." "I'm not smart enough." "Nothing ever works for me." "I'm too old." "It's too late." "Everyone else is ahead of me." Or are you reminding yourself, "I am still growing." "I can learn." "I can try again." "My life has purpose." "I am not finished."

Words alone do not magically remove problems, but the way we speak to ourselves influences how we approach those problems. A defeated mindset can make us stop before we have truly begun.

My book encourages readers to develop an "I CAN" attitude, reject destructive messages from other people, and recognize that their lives have purpose and value. You cannot always control what other people say about you. But you can decide whether their words become your identity.

Stop Giving Negative People Control of Your Life

Not everyone will understand your journey. Not everyone will celebrate your growth. And not everyone deserves access to your peace. Some people will criticize you whether you are doing well or struggling. If you spend your life trying to satisfy every critic, you will eventually lose sight of who you are and what you were called to do. Love yourself enough to recognize your own value. Know your purpose. Protect your peace.

The book encourages readers not to allow negative people to determine their day, week, or life. Instead, maintain a positive mindset, remain secure in who you are, pray for people when necessary, and know when it is time to leave negativity alone. Everything does not deserve a response. Every accusation does not require an explanation. Not every disagreement requires a battle. Sometimes maturity is knowing when silence, prayer, and forward movement are more powerful than having the last word.

Learn to Let Go

One of the hardest lessons in life is accepting that everything cannot come with us into our next season. Some things have expired. Sometimes it is a relationship. Sometimes it is resentment. Sometimes it is guilt. Sometimes it is a mistake we keep replaying. Sometimes it is the version of ourselves we have outgrown.

In the book, I use the image of burying the things that have been dragging you down and refusing to dig them back up. That is easier to say than to do. We often say we have let something go while continuing to revisit it mentally every day. We replay the conversation. We remember what someone did. We imagine what we should have said. We continue punishing ourselves for a decision we made years ago.

At some point, healing requires release. You cannot fully embrace what is ahead while using both hands to hold onto what is behind you.

Forgiveness is part of that process. I write openly about having struggled with forgiveness myself and learning that holding onto bitterness, anger, hurt, and resentment prevented me from experiencing the peace that came with releasing them. Forgiving does not mean pretending something was acceptable. It means deciding the pain will no longer have unlimited control over your present.

Stop Letting Stress Become Your Permanent Address

Stress is real. There are bills to pay, families to care for, jobs to perform, assignments to complete, health concerns to manage, decisions to make, and responsibilities that do not disappear because we feel overwhelmed. Constantly carrying those burdens mentally, however, does not solve everything physically.

One illustration in my book is a letter addressed directly to stress—a declaration that stress will no longer control one's thoughts, emotions, peace, and life. I also compare stress to carrying weight. The longer we refuse to put the weight down, the heavier it feels.

Sometimes we need to ask ourselves: What am I carrying that I cannot change? What am I worrying about that has not even happened? What responsibility am I trying to control that needs to be released?

For me, prayer has always been one of the ways I release that weight. Prayer does not mean ignoring reality. It means acknowledging that I do not have to navigate reality by myself.

Faith Does Not Mean You Will Never Face a Storm

One of the misconceptions people sometimes have about faith is that believing in God should prevent difficult things from happening. My life has taught me otherwise. Faith does not mean there will never be storms. Faith gives us something to hold onto during the storm.

In the book, I ask readers to think about all the storms and setbacks they have endured and then recognize one important fact: they are still here. Sometimes we spend all our energy asking God to remove the chaos when what we also need is peace and strength while we are moving through it.

There have been times in my own life when doors seemed closed, circumstances looked impossible, and I could not understand what was happening. Yet looking back, I can see situations where another way was made. That is why faith has become more than something I talk about. It is something I have had to live.

Closed Doors Can Lead to New Opportunities

We do not normally celebrate when a door closes. We become disappointed. We question ourselves. We sometimes continue knocking on a door long after it has become clear that we need to move in another direction. However, not every closed door is a punishment. Some closed doors are redirection.

The opportunity section of my book reminds readers that simply waking up to another day means receiving another opportunity—to make a difference, change something, help someone, or move closer to purpose. It also encourages us to stop continually banging on doors that have closed and become willing to recognize a new direction when it appears.

Sometimes the opportunity you wanted is not the opportunity you needed. The next chapter of your life may require you to stop staring at the previous one.

Gratitude Changes What You Notice

We can become so focused on what is missing that we forget what remains. We pray for the next blessing without acknowledging the blessings already surrounding us. Gratitude does not mean everything is perfect. It means recognizing that difficulty and blessing can exist at the same time.

You can be disappointed and still grateful. You can be healing and still grateful. You can be waiting and still grateful. You can be rebuilding and still grateful.

The message in Motivation to Make It Through is simple: appreciate what you have while continuing to trust God for what you need. Sometimes remembering what God has already brought you through gives you the confidence to face what is in front of you now.

Making It Through Is About Becoming

The goal is not simply to survive difficult seasons and return to exactly who we were before them. Sometimes the struggle introduces us to strength we did not know we possessed. Sometimes disappointment makes us wiser. Sometimes loss changes our priorities. Sometimes starting over introduces us to purpose. Sometimes the thing we prayed would disappear becomes part of the testimony we eventually use to encourage someone else.

That is why I believe motivation is more than temporary excitement. Motivation is choosing to continue. It is praying when you do not know what else to do. It is getting back up. It is forgiving. It is letting go. It is changing your thinking. It is recognizing your worth. It is taking advantage of another opportunity. It is believing there is still more to your story. Sometimes, motivation may simply mean whispering to yourself, "I made it through before. I can make it through again."

The strongest person is not necessarily the person who never struggles. Strength can also be found in the person who has every reason to quit but chooses to keep going.

So, if you are reading this during one of the hardest seasons of your life, I want you to remember this: Your current situation is not your entire story. Your failure is not your identity. Your delay is not necessarily your denial. Your storm will not last forever. Hold your head up. Keep moving. Keep believing. Keep praying. Keep becoming. Above all else, do not quit. You have already made it through things you once thought you could not survive.

There is still more life to live, more purpose to fulfill, more opportunities to discover, and more of your story to be written.

You can make it through.

Much Love.

Lisa Shadwick