Sometimes in life I struggle. We all do. Sometimes those struggles swallow you up and drag you to what I call “the pits”, modeled after a sandy wasteland that used to exist near my childhood home.

You try and struggle through the sand, make your way to the top, and on the way your reading is one other thing that makes it seem worse. Not the act of reading itself, but the act of feeling pressured to do so.

Giant, human sized…NFL player sized to be read piles, towering next to beds, toppling over when nudged. eReader filling, overwhelming books, just waiting for you to devour them.

But trust me. Its okay. The beautiful thing about books is that they last forever. And sometimes, they can help you get out of the pits.

Grab a book. Any book. A book you’ve read a million times, or a book that you’d never thought you would enjoy.

Read about people in pain. Read about happy people. Read about people slaying dragons and allow them to help you slay yours.

Pile up blankets and pillows and sink into them and remember that when you feel alone, if you look in a book you can always find your friends.

And please if you need help, ask for it. Don’t be in the dark alone. Don’t be in the pits alone. Your story is unfinished, still developing. Don’t end it before it’s end should come.