Four years ago, I was sitting on a beach in Aruba.

At the time, I genuinely believed I was at the beginning of something special. I thought I was with the person I would spend the rest of my life with, and I imagined a future that looked very different from the one that eventually unfolded.

But life can change quickly.

The person I thought I knew became someone I barely recognised. I supported her through her own emotional upheaval, doing everything I could to be there when she needed me. But somewhere along the way, it began to take a serious toll on my own emotional and mental wellbeing.

And when I eventually hit rock bottom myself, the support I had given wasn’t there for me.

What followed were some of the hardest years of my life.

I battled depression.

I battled cancer.

I watched, worried and tried to be there as my ex-wife fought stage 3 breast cancer.

I also watched people around me struggle with their own mental health, and tragically saw some lose those battles.

There were times when life felt incredibly heavy.

So I travelled.

Often alone.

I sat in airports, on beaches and in places far away from everything familiar. Somewhere amongst all of that, I started putting pen to paper.

Initially, I wrote for myself.

Writing became a way of making sense of things that hadn’t made sense while I was living through them. Eventually, I realised that perhaps some of the words helping me could help somebody else too.

And slowly, life began to change.

Not overnight. Not because everything suddenly became perfect.

I simply kept moving forward.

I came through the other side stronger, more self-aware and with a completely different understanding of what really matters.

And now?

Four years after sitting on that beach in Aruba believing I knew exactly what my future looked like, I’m sitting on a completely different beach.

This time I’m translating English into Portuguese, laughing, enjoying myself and having an amazing time.

I couldn’t have predicted this chapter four years ago.

And that’s the point.

Life is transient.

Enjoy the good times because they don’t always last.

But when you’re going through the bad times, remember something equally important:

They don’t always last either.

Sometimes we become so consumed by what is happening today that we convince ourselves this is what life will always look like.

It isn’t.

People change. Relationships end. Health can frighten us. Plans fall apart. Sometimes the future we were absolutely certain about disappears completely.

But another future can be waiting for us — one we haven’t even imagined yet.

So whatever you’re going through right now, stay strong.

Keep moving.

Keep believing that there are still places you haven’t visited, people you haven’t met, conversations you haven’t had and moments you haven’t experienced.

Four years ago, I couldn’t see this beach.

Today, I’m sitting on it.

And if it’s raining in your head right now, remember:

Rain doesn’t mean nothing is growing.

Sometimes the rain comes first.

Then the flowers bloom.

You’ve got this.