How Do I Go On?

This poem is dedicated to you who are facing overwhelming circumstances and wondering if you will ever get through. I feel you.

HOW DO I GO ON?
Copyright ©Ifueko Ogbomo 2009

A body broken. A love lost. A dream destroyed.
Pain indescribable. Misery irrepressible. Agony insurmountable.
A body racked with pain is brutal
A heart wrecked by despair, fatal

One minute all is well: The sky is blue, the grass is green,
birds sing sweetly, laughter rings freely;
One minute, you’re walking with a pep in your step; a twinkle in your eye and a super-sparkly smile
The next minute, everything changes
An argument. An accident. One morbid message. One calamitous call.
Instantly laughter is transformed into tears, exuberant joy into immeasurable sorrow
The light of day becomes a gross darkness, crushing your very soul
Life as you know it ceases to be

Then questions arise: Why this? Why now? Why me? Why? ...
The answers elude, thus the despair deepens.
The broken body will never mend. The lost love will never be found. The destroyed dream will never be realized.
Then the many questions become one: ‘How do I go on?’

When each dawn is but a despicable reminder of another dreaded day
The laughter of others but a dagger thrust deeper into my despondent soul
How do I go on?
Would that I stop feeling, for all I feel is raw, incessant pain – I long to go numb
Would that I stop seeing, for all I see conjures up terrifying memories – I long to forget
There is no more light, no, just a dark dark night
I am become but a shadow of what I once was
How do I go on?
My past, forgotten; my present, traumatic; my future, what future?
I know of none. I imagine none. I envision nothing.
How do I go on?
I have but one desire: to close my eyes in eternal sleep, and no more ever weep.
Or know you another way? Pray show me, please, tell me...
How do I go on?
_ _ _

In answer to the above question, let me say the following:
You go on by looking up, and you do it one day at a time.
Don’t look downward or inward because all you’ll see is sorrow. Don’t look around you because your circumstances will overwhelm you.
Just look up to God.
Whenever I face situations that make me wonder how I could ever go on, I find solace in two scriptural facts:
1. Nothing, absolutely nothing, neither death nor life, the present or the future, will ever be able to separate mefrom the unconditional everlasting love God has for me (Romans 8: 38,39; Jeremiah 31:3).
2. Since I love God, and I’m called according to His purpose, then I know that God causes ALL things to work together for my good, ultimately (Romans 8:28).
When I’m overwhelmed by life, believing these facts give me the strength to go on, one day at a time and I hope they will do the same for you.

Remember, no matter how long a night is, it must give way to the rising of the sun - the light of a brand new day. Look up!
_ _ _
Lady I. – Still Standing Strong!