I had an epiphany yesterday.

I’ve recently gone off on my own, quitting my day job and going for my dream job. When I look back on it it feels like it happened so quickly and yet so slowly.

I had been working up to quitting my day job by picking up freelance writing jobs, learning my craft, and growing my skill sets but I ran into a rut when I realized that in order to really go for my dream job of curating content for great brands, writing, and blogging I would need to have more time.

Yet, I couldn’t get more time if I was putting in 30 hours a week at my current job. The trick was that it meant that I was going to be taking a serious pay cut while I drifted in limbo from one job to the next.

By serious pay cut I mean that I knew I had $25 coming to me that week and the next if I didn’t land myself another job soon. That was it.

Now that a few weeks have passed I’ve been able to hustle my way into two new jobs but I’ll still need to pick up a few more projects if I want to be able to have room for paying my bills and being able to play.

This has led me to feeling like I’m treading water.

Look, I’m a full believer in fate and in the universe working in my favor. Just as I quit my day job I had somebody tell me that they needed help creating content for their company’s Instagram page. A week after that I was able to land myself another job doing the same thing. On top of that I had a previous employer ask me to do some writing for them.

It all happened in such perfect timing that it has forced me into a constant understanding that I am on the right path, doing the right things, making the right connections, and in the right head space with this life changing decision.

Yet, here I am ready for somebody to toss me a floaty so that I can take a break from swimming for a little bit.

So here’s where the epiphany happened.

I was talking with a close friend the other day who has created their own company and he sat me down and told me “I have so much respect for what you are doing right now. I know what it feels like to go off on your own and I know how scary it can be, and because of that I am so proud of you.”

I immediately felt this insane sense of relief.

Knowing that i wasn’t the only one who has had these feelings of being overwhelmed, self doubt, days of pure invigoration, and all the like that come with this path I have chosen grew my muscles. It’s made treading water seem slightly easier because now I know that someone else has felt exactly this way and come out of it successfully.

It soon had me thinking:

Why is it that we think we are the only ones that are going through certain emotions?

Maybe you’re not starting a business but maybe you’re going through a terrible break up, a tough time with a friend, or a sensation of feeling lost in life.

What makes these emotions so hard is that for some odd reason we single ourselves out and assume that nobody else knows what it is that we’re going through.

Even more so, I think that we just forget that other people have and are going through and doing the same things that we are.

When we take a step back and realize that we are not the only ones, not the first, not the last, and that there are thousands of people feeling these same emotions-it makes them lose their power over us.

If anybody else can have this feeling of treading water, can feel totally abandoned after a relationship goes wrong, can go through dramatic family issues, or can go through any type of emotional disruption and come out successful then I know that I can too.

Armed with this realization, I can take on the world. I can travel, I can continue my new business, I can meet new people, I can stick up for myself and I can create the life I’ve always wanted.

I can do all of this because somebody out there has done it and if they can so can I.

Harness the power of knowing that you are just as capable as your idol. If they can do it, so can you. Your only job in the matter is to take action towards making it happen and then take a peak in every single door that opens for you as it does.

You are not alone nor will you ever be alone, there’s always somebody who connects with you on a level that you didn’t realize you could relate with somebody. Trust that there is somebody going through the same things as you and never be afraid to reach out to those people. Chances are they want to talk with you just as badly as you need to talk with them!

Let’s do this whole “life” thing together and empower those around us to make it through tough times, to take risks, and to always choose happiness.