Mohini Kundu

“Hard days teach you how to get through hard days.”

This mantra got me through a tough day recently. I usually try to keep things in perspective. Nowadays, we have so much that makes life comfortable and easy for the most part. But solo-parenting a sick baby while sick myself was a new challenge. It made me long for a village, or at least my mom, to make sure my son was in good hands when I was barely able to get out of bed.

I felt weak and dizzy and terrified that I wouldn’t be able to care for him when he needed me. When these situations find me as a new mom, I think of the millions of mothers who came before me in tougher circumstances. My own mother wrangled two under two herself with a less-than-supportive, workaholic husband. And the list of challenges mothers face grows exponentially from there.

But the comparisons didn’t help me when I felt scared and alone. What did help was thinking that all I need to do is get through this day, and I will know I’m capable of handling it.

I’m lucky that I’ve come so far in life before having to really reckon with the fact that there is no one coming to save you. So it’s incredibly important to learn how to care and be there for yourself. I’m trying to start with being gentle instead of critical, and learning to trust that I have everything I need within me to get through any circumstance. Just knowing this makes a hard day a little easier.