Last week, I visited my old stomping grounds near Sun Peaks Resort outside Kamloops.

This was a tough stop for me, but I needed to do it. This place is where I faced my toughest times – I was divorced, raising Tristan on my own, I was broke, lonely and in very poor health. And I was very, very sad.

During those hard days, I would bundle up Tristan and we’d hike up to this waterfall, a short distance from our house. Sitting there, in the cool spray of the waterfall, I would cry, pray and ponder our future while Tristan threw rocks into the water. It was my private place where I could release all my pain, scooping it up out of my body and hurling it into the rushing waters of the waterfall. Day after day, I performed that ritual without fail.

That was 13 years ago. Walking up to that same waterfall last week unleashed all those memories. I stopped and cried for a bit, gathered up my resources, and then carried on. My husband waited patiently.

The path looked exactly the same. Time hadn’t changed it at all. I could hear the roar of the waterfall up ahead. I scrambled over the same big rocks that Tristan used to have such a hard time getting over, because he was so small, and because he was weak from the disease in his body that we had yet to discover.

I sometimes wonder how I ever made it through those times, but sitting at that waterfall again I realized that despite all that I had been through, I’ve always had an unshakeable belief that I was going to be ok. I’m not sure where this came from, but I’ve always felt a connection to something, somewhere, and I’ve always known that I was a part of something bigger. I knew I would survive. And I did.

Whatever you’re going through, know that you too will survive. Don’t give it another thought. You have the strength and the ability, and although you may not always go through it gracefully (who does?), sometimes it’s just about putting one foot in front of the other and taking one tiny step at a time.

This is what my new book – One Rep at a Time – is all about. I’ve had a lifetime of fitness, and I’ve spent my life taching others how to build shapely muscle, then I give birth to a child with a muscle-wasting disease.

The irony has not been lost on me.

We all have ourjourney, and your journey is here to teach you. Stay open to it. Listen, really listen. And know that you will survive. It’s your life in the making. Trust in that. Find your waterfall, and know that it will be ok.

Blessings,

karen