Breathe

Light your own way

Trust your inner reserves to get you to where you want to be

Words: Stephanie Lam
Illustration: Kathrin Lang

You climb off the train onto a dark station platform. It’s lit by a few wonky bulbs, with a broken sign announcing your destination. It’s the end of the line, and there are no more options left. Welcome, my friend, to the last resort.

This probably isn’t a place you wanted to end up. The last resort is the decision you have to take when the better options are gone. Once you’ve lost the pleasant places, the unloved choice remains.

Whatever path you’re travelling and whatever challenge life is presenting, there will always be one option you’d prefer to avoid. It’s the decision you keep at the back of your mind, the knowledge of what you’ll do if all goes wrong. Whether it concerns financial security or health decisions, the need for shelter or a social life, there’s always a last resort. The problem is, it can feel like failure to end up there.

Yet see it this way: relying on external factors or people for support means there’s a chance you’ll be let down. This means you might feel alone when times get hard. But the last resort is a certainty, because when everything falls apart, the final option is to rely on yourself. You are, in fact, your own last resort, and this means you have everything you need.

So, let’s reframe the last resort as a potential place of deep resource. A vault of knowledge and wisdom, drawing on experience and understanding. It doesn’t have to be a pit of misery. Instead, it can be a well of self-care.

When it comes to relying on your inner strength, think of your last resort less as a poorly lit platform and more of the place you’re making for after that – your destination. Leave the station and follow the signs. They’ll mark your way to a place of comfort and warmth. It’s a location where you’ll be looked after by the person who knows you best – you.

At this last resort, despair transforms into hope, and abandonment into self-reliance. So, if everything else fails and you feel let down by others or external factors, don’t be disheartened that you’re the only one you can rely on. Consider this: the last resort could be your best decision yet.

How to Be Your Own Last Resort

  • Have you ever felt disappointed by others or by a situation? How did it feel to rely solely on yourself?
  • Reflect on the inner strength you drew upon during those times. Even if everything didn’t turn out perfectly, acknowledge that you coped as best as you could.
  • Reconsider your sense of abandonment; it enabled you to discover your own last resort.
  • Light a lamp in that destination and set up signs so you’ll know the way should you need to return. Recognise it as a place of comfort and warmth.
  • Understand that the message isn’t about not trusting others. Instead, it emphasises that you can always trust yourself.