There are bumper-sticker worthy statements which speak to this sentiment. "When you hit the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." "When life knocks you to your knees, you're right where you need to be." "You don't have to see the whole staircase at once, just the first step, one step at a time." It is the idea that you will reach a place when you can't get any lower, so there has to be a way to drag yourself back up. Either you find it yourself, or life finds it for you. Rock bottom is the absolute end of the free fall, right?
Is there an Ephiphanical second (I am virtually POSITIVE I made that word up--so it is probably, at best, redundant) when one says "Enough." Do you believe in an "AHAH!" moment? divine inspiration? All of the above? I do. I believe change is born of these revelations. There is a particular turning point at which we start to seek the path back out of whatever place we're in. If it is a place we've seen before, the realization that we're back can be even more defeating.
We could be talking about any low point in life: Emotional, financial, personal, professional. It is quite possibly a combination of several things, which lead to one particular crisis point. But whatever it is, I believe it has to promote change. Either a change in the way one lives, or a change in the way one thinks. For me, it has been a lifelong war, with battles won and lost. But if today was my rock bottom (again), then there must be a way to get back to the top of my rope, out of my pit, and on to something better. Painful as it may be, the hard part is not hitting the bottom--it is finding the hand and footholds I'll need to climb up again.
