My dad was a quiet guy, not big on lectures. The one thing he kept saying to...

Lucy Mac
@maclucy1107
2 days ago

My dad was a quiet guy, not big on lectures. The one thing he kept saying to me, especially when I was a teenager obsessing over some drama or mistake, was: "This too shall pass. But you have to keep moving your feet while you wait."

I rolled my eyes so hard. I thought he was just being dismissive, telling me my problems weren't a big deal. What I didn't get was that he wasn't saying my feelings were wrong. He was giving me a strategy for survival. He meant that you can't freeze up when things are bad. You keep showing up, you do the boring daily things, you go to work, you pay the bills, you take the trash out. The big emotional storm passes, but only if you don't let your life collapse while you're in it.

It finally clicked years later during a really rough patch at my first real job. I was panicking, thinking my career was over. I remembered his words. So I didn't quit. I just kept moving my feet. I showed up, did my basic tasks, and eventually the situation resolved itself and I was still standing. That advice has saved me from quitting too early, from burning bridges, and from wallowing. It's not about ignoring pain. It's about not letting the pain make you stop.