There'll be days like this.

As a woman, a mother, a partner, a writer, a human being, I try to remind myself there'll be days like this.

I recently had a cancer scare.

For four weeks, I trudged through my days on edge, anxiety defining my wakeful hours, insomnia dictating my restless nights. I imagined the cancer slowly eating away at my thyroid, the surgery I would need to remove it altogether, the scar I would forever wear on my throat.

Then I opened the email from my doctor sharing the great news that the second round of biopsy results concluded my thyroid nodules were benign. No cancer. 

Worried tears dried. Anxiety and insomnia fizzled away. I thought about how a few simple words could so quickly, easily, effortlessly shift my entire perspective, transform my emotional and mental state. One day I lived in fear, the next I was a different person, so carefree I wondered why I allowed something so out of my control to control me.

There'll be days like this, I thought. 

Days filled with fear and anxiety. 

Days filled with hope and gratitude. 

Shortly after my cancer scare, my boyfriend and I went on vacation to Grand Cayman. For nearly a week, I lounged in a beach chair, gazing at crystal clear water, sometimes reading a book, sometimes people-watching, sometimes meditating. I snorkeled whenever the urge struck, one day swimming alongside a lone sea turtle, the next surrounded by friendly stingrays. I melted into a state of relaxation I hadn’t felt in a long time.

Then I headed home, back to reality. Parenting, laundry, groceries, dog-walking, work, work, work. The stress I shed on my trip seemed to return instantaneously. Once again, I thought about how one day I could dwell in one mindset and the next find myself in another.

There'll be days like this, I thought. 

Days filled with rejuvenation and wonder. 

Days filled with productivity and deadlines.

That’s life, right? Riding the wave of our ups and downs, finding balance, learning, living in the moment because there’s always going to be good days and bad days and everything in between. And since a new day is just around the corner, I try to live mindfully with the knowledge that all things, good or bad, come to an end, that I should embrace and celebrate some days, while others I should let go and not dwell on.

And something I’ve learned after over a decade of being a writer is that sharing our ups and downs through the written word can help others feel less alone. I know this from the readers who email me about personal essays I wrote to tell me they had no idea other people felt like they did until they read my piece. I know this from tweeting about rejections from editors and the responses from other writers sharing their rejection stories too. I know this from my own feelings when I read other people's words I connect with.

As a woman, a mother, a partner, a writer, a human being, I try to remind myself there'll be days like this, whatever “this” means. 

Some days I’ll face writer’s block, other days my words will flow.

Some days my chronic pain will debilitate me, other days I can overcome it.

Some days my kids will question my decisions, other days they’ll thank me.

Some days I’ll be up, some days I’ll be down.

Some days I’ll ride the perfect wave, some days I’ll wipe out.

So whatever today brings, I’ll try to remember…

There'll be days like this. And I’m going to write about them.