By ALLISON RUWALDT
Recently, I was having a conversation with my mom where we were talking about things we are struggling with, and then she said something that stuck with me.
“Someone still has to do the dishes, man.”
These words really meant something to me. Since starting college and growing into adulthood, I have faced many challenges, and throughout it all, a lesson I have continued to learn is that life does not stop when bad things happen.
This lesson has been both positive and negative in my experience. When I have struggled with a new financial burden or am overwhelmed with work and school, the hardest part is continuing to get little things like chores or self-care done.
These struggles make small things like the dishes or laundry seem incredibly daunting, and when I spoke to my mom, she spoke about how she feels the same pressure. Talking to her made me reflect on a lot of situations where I was struggling in high school, and she chose to take on the burden of doing the little things around the household.
It also inspired me to keep on pushing forward. Growing up, I watched her take care of our home despite our financial trouble, her losing family and friends and helping fix all four of her children’s problems. She was also working full time, and yet still somehow managed to push through the stress and take care of her house.
Now that I live on my own, I have come to appreciate my parents’ emotional strength much more. I have lost a few people in my life over the past couple of years, but no matter how sad or lethargic I was feeling, there was still laundry that someone had to do. This year I have had to deal with a truly overwhelming workload and figure out how to work and earn a livable wage, while also studying for tests and writing weekly, while still taking care of myself and my house.
Throughout it all, things like chores and self-care felt so hard, but with encouragement and help from my loved ones, I got through it. As well as doing my best to help them get through the same or similar struggles.
Saying it does not get easier is discouraging, but it is true. What I also believe is true, though, is that as things get harder, I have gotten stronger. Going through hard things and continuing to live a happy life is not a simple task, but with experience, it has gotten easier.
Life does not stop when bad or hard things happen; it keeps moving, and dishes and laundry still need to be done. And as I have faced hard things, life still moving has become an encouragement. It almost feels like motivation; if life can keep moving, so can I.
It is important to remember to take the good with the bad; sometimes life can cause strife, but it also brings immense joy, and no matter what, someone still has to do the dishes.