The Darkest Hour

In the early hours of the morning, when I cannot sleep and the world outside is grey and barely stirring, I often become overwhelmed by anxiety and the repetitive thoughts that seem to take over. Then I hear the birdsong and despite all of my fear and anxiety, I know that I made it through the last day and into the next one. When I had lost all hope and spent many of my days in complete despair as I was not sure I was ever going to find a way forward, that was one of the thoughts that used to pull me through. Now, I cherish the sound of birdsong - and I even look forward to it when I have had one of my long, sleepless nights. I look forward to the early hours and to the first chinks of light as I know a new day as arrived. Then I start to think of all of the good things in my life and all of the things I care about and even in the darkest of days - and the darkest of hours - that gives me reason to hold on. And as they say "the darkest hour is always before dawn".