Recently I had an awful weekend. Not bad, not difficult, not a struggle. God-damn-fucking-awful. My mom and I had to travel to Cali (a city in Colombia) to the wedding of one of my cousins and we decided that since it was only for two days it wasn’t worth traveling by plane. First mistake in a series of unfortunate events. The day of departure arrived and we boarded our bus, filled with hope. It started out alright, a little traffic jam in the outskirts of the city but nothing out of the ordinary. Four hours later in the middle of nowhere the bus stops, we assumed that it had something to do with maintenance so we paid no attention to it. One hour passed, two hours passed, three hours passed. Night has fallen and we were parked with what seemed no intention of moving forward. The busdriver who had been absent all that time came back and said: “there was an accident on the road, I don’t know how long we might have to stay here”. And for 22 hours we continued to drive slowly for one or two hours and then park for three or four more.
Needless to say we did not make it to the wedding. My mom and I arrived to the Cali an hour after the wedding had started, but before we could get there we needed to get to our hotel and change. Except we had lost the reservation and they were really reluctant to give us a room for just one night. By that point I was hungry, dirty, exhausted and sad. You see whilst I waited in the bus from hell I remembered that that very same day the results for a scholarship I was applying to would come out.
I killed myself working on that application. The essays were corrected hundreds of times, I practiced my interview with an ex recipient of the same grant, I polished every single answer to perfection. And after all that hard work nothing had come through. I was not selected. I was literally stuck with no positive ending in sight.
So when the hotel managers found one empty suite I thought “thank God, the universe is giving me a break”. Or not. Because when we got there it turned out the bathroom was broken and it flooded. Oh joy. And that was it, I couldn’t take it anymore because I just needed something to go alright. ANYTHING. So I started crying and crying and crying. It was like something had broken in me, nothing was stopping me from feeling so pathetic and defeated.So small.
Now there is something that you need to understand: my mom is the greatest human being ever. Like EVER. She’s like Mary Poppins becoming a Time Lord. She is an ice cream on a hot summer day. She is the human equivalent to finding a hundred dollar bill in your pocket. So she held me and let me cry and said to me: “Sometimes things go wrong, every single thing. But we do what we can with what we have. Doing our best is all we can do. So what if we don’t get to the wedding on time? We will get there as soon as we can and if the people we love also love us back, they will understand. Some days just getting through is a victory”.
And she is right, because even though the weekend was grueling I felt accomplished. I had less that 12 hours in Cali to rest and sight see, I didn’t get the chance to visit a close friend of mine that I had wanted to see, I didn’t get the scholarship and I was back in the bus from hell in less than a day. But I didn’t stop. I went to my cousin’s wedding, I ate delicious food, I managed to organize my 12 hours so I could see the city’s zoo and main museum, I spent time with my mom, I lived.
Life is hard, and easy, and cruel, and kind, and wondrous, and educational, and inspiring, and depressing. All at the same time. And I don’t know why that is, I probably never will. The universe just is the way it is and I am but a small speck of stardust in the infinity of existence. But what I learned from that weekend is I DON’T CARE WHY IT IS LIKE THAT. I’m alive. Whether I like what happens or not, regardless of the troubles and blessings, I AM ALIVE. I have a chance to make the most of an awful situation, to learn, to love, to laugh, to eat, to dance, whatever. I get to do my best and live without regrets. And that is so much more important and inspiring than the whys. So go on, try picking yourself up when it’s the hardest and take a shot at doing the best you can. Whatever that may be, because sometimes just getting through a day is a victory.
Proyect X 
Reblogged this on HONGÓPOLIS and commented:
…because sometimes just getting through a day is a victory.
This text helped me after a seminar made in hell. Had I read it BEFORE attending this encounter of envious witches, I would not have paid any notice of those who attacked, slandered, excluded and bullyied me (academic bullying is the most vicious type, on account of the age old excuse that this “it’s all for the good and the advancement of the state of the art, you understand”). Thank you for letting me close with a smile what was a really gruelling experience. One never knows who will remind you that while there´s life, there´s hope. And that it has all been worthwhile.