Nineteen years ago, on January 4th, 1998, a massive ice storm hit Canada and the United States. Many large cities were shut down for a week.  At a standstill.  At the time I was a rookie writer working at an advertising agency and one of my assignments was writing a company newsletter for a national chain of hotels.  I remember all the stories pouring in about properties and employees taking in people who were stranded and everyday folks helping each other out.  It’s funny how much we take for granted when we have electricity, water and safe roads to travel through our day.  When it all goes dark, we are lost and must depend on help from others.

Sometimes in life, we have our own personal ice storms.  A sudden rock bottom where we literally can’t see how to put one step in front of the other.  We are frozen in place.  We don’t have our foundation and the things that we know.  We feel lost.

And in those times, we must lean on people who offer help.  We must trust that the sun will rise, the ice will melt, the electricity and water will run again, and we will get our life back.  It might even be better than before.

As J.K. Rowling once said, “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”

Don’t ever feel alone if you are at a place in your life where you feel stranded or stuck. There is always someone who can show you the way back to where you want to be.  But you must start walking towards the destination.  The storm will pass.  And you will be stronger for having survived it.