This too shall pass.

It's a saying that I've always known. One that I have chanted to myself through the hard times, while I lay curled up in the foetal position on the bathroom floor, and one that I have reminded others of during their hard times. But there's one rather large detail that I failed to realise.

Since we arrived in Asia more than two years ago, there have been days where I have wondered if life could possibly get any better. Some days I sit in the quiet company of my husband, look around our home filled with memories and with love and wonder "could life be any more perfect?!"

Or there are the days that I lie on the floor amongst the giggles and the snuggles of beautiful children, and my heart skips a beat, as though I am floating on cloud nine.

And the days where I sit back and marvel at the incredible brains that the children in my classroom will one day use to change the world.

Or the days where I walk along the streets of Thailand, showered with smiles and delicious aromas of the food, the flowers and the iced tea as I pass by.

And then there are my friends, the family I choose for myself.
The connections I have made here are with some of the most beautiful human beings I have come to know. Time spent with their sweet squeezes, their knowing smiles and their loving words fill my heart with total joy and happiness.

But, this too shall pass. Those feelings of being on cloud nine, of total and utter happiness and wonderings of perfection - they will pass. And pass they did.

Over the space of a week I watched, what felt like, my world crashing down around me, with little knowledge of how to fix it or even how to stay afloat. And as I merely existed in this world, not being able to live in the mess that I had created, I realised my fatal mistake: forgetting that the good times, too, will pass.

There's a bright side to every story. Other than the fact that everything has worked out okay, I learnt many things that I will take into the next life hurdle with me...

• I learnt that I might be strong, but I'm not invincible.
• I learnt that I have a fighter's heart - I will fight, and I will simply not give up.
• I learnt that my huge fighter's heart overflowing with love can be both a blessing and a curse.
• I learnt that I am fragile - that I need to be treated gentler than most.
• I learnt that I think with my heart, and never with my head.
• I learnt that fear is the absence of love, and that love expels all fear.
• I learnt that love is a power that cannot be stopped.
• I learnt that it's okay to be in the darkness - God will meet me there.

I learnt that this too shall pass.