Writer and popular blogger GapingVoid Hugh Macleod writes, “Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.” 

Perhaps you already know exactly what your own personal Mount Everest is. If so, you may have also discovered there are times during your journey when you feel courageous, powerful, and strong. These are awe-inspiring times when you know deep inside that anything is possible and you feel connected to harmony and happiness.

You may have also noticed there are moments during the climb when you feel discouraged, disheartened, and dejected. Yet even in those dark moments—when you feel like giving up—one little glimmer of hope can help to bring back those positive feelings and put you back on track.

I recently received an e-mail from a woman I’ve never met before. She wrote that she had been in a place so dark during her own personal journey that she felt suicidal. I’ve included an excerpt from her e-mail below. While I’ve removed her name to respect her privacy, I’m sharing her words with you so that if you ever feel like giving up, you’ll remember to believe that you have the strength within to rise up, take back control, and resume your climb.

Hello Denise,

I recently discovered your book while trying to get my life back on track. I have just been through an extremely rough patch and I was worried about everything that was happening. I wouldn’t leave my bedroom—let alone the house—to go to work or shopping. I wouldn’t talk to anyone at all—not even my family and friends.

Then one day a close friend (the only person I would actually speak to although I didn’t speak a lot to her) came round to my house. She came into my room (which I hadn’t been out of in 4 weeks) and handed me your book CALM. She said, “Do not leave this room until you have at least read the first chapter.”

I said, “I’m never leaving this room again! So, put it on the shelf; I’ll get round to it when I feel like it—if ever.”

She said, “I promise you, after reading the first chapter, you’ll find some strength to carry on with your life.”

I still don’t know what said to me: Read that book! But, whatever it was, I’m glad I did it because, not only have I never read a book in my life, my first impressions were “Yeah, okay, how is a book going to save my life from going any lower and being suicidal. I did read the first chapter and found some strength. I also read the second, third, fourth, and fifth the same day; and, at 4 o’clock that day I took my first steps downstairs in 4 weeks, I had my first proper meal in 4 weeks, and I spoke to somebody again.

All because your book taught me that I have to take control of what I can and let go of what I can’t control. It also taught me that everyone can make mistakes; we are all just human. But, most important it taught me that I am not the only woman in the world to worry about life and what’s going to happen next or who might say something that’s going to upset me or whether I’m going to have the right attitude to succeed. It even taught me that no matter what I still have rights.

Your book currently goes everywhere with me in my bag; and, if I’m struggling, I open it up and read a random page and manage to gain some strength out of it to carry on.

This all happened six months ago. I am now about to take one of the biggest steps in those six  months and that is returning to work which I must admit I’m worried about; but, your book will be with me and I’ll definitely be reading it on the way to work and right up to the minute that I start so I can get myself in the right frame of mind.

I guess you hear this a lot from different people but I really do need to thank you from the bottom of my heart because without the strength your book has given me I wouldn’t be here today to be able to write this to you.

No matter where you are on your own journey, have faith and trust that you have the strength within to survive, thrive, and reach the summit of whatever mountain you’re climbing. You’ve always had that strength. It’s been a part of you since the day you were born. Sometimes all you need to help you call upon that strength is a new idea or a new way of thinking to light your way.

Where can you find that new idea? Although some challenges you face may require help from a professional, don’t forget there is a myriad of supportive resources out there for you to explore. Whether through professionals, support groups, or books, a helping hand is there, you just have to grasp it. For example, there are numerous books written for people—and by people—who have faced the challenges and climbed the mountains you’re climbing right now; you really don’t have to feel that you’re alone! If you’ll commit to reading for 15-30 minutes each day, the information you can learn—from getting out of debt to mastering happiness—may astonish you and can set you on a path of inner peace and fulfillment.

Why not begin searching for solutions and tools to assist you on your journey today? Visit your local library or bookstore and take home a volume that resonates with you. Read, discover new strategies, and act on the ideas that inspire you. You have the power and internal strength to turn your life around. Start by turning a page...your Mount Everest awaits.