My sister and I, both diametrically opposed to being stopped, tried once to come up with an acronym for the phrase at which we worship: find a way to make it work.

F-A-W-T-M-I-W.

So you can see why that never became a thing. But our devotion to the concept remains.

We know what you know, you who are equally intent on succeeding: the determined are rarely deterred.

They hatch a plan, acknowledge no one but them is going to transform that idea into reality but themselves, and work as hard as is necessary to achieve their goals.

Yes, you are the person who has been quarantined for weeks, who has wasted time twirling your hair and watching synchronized swimming documentaries, who has yelled at her kids when they were being exceedingly large jerks, who has obsessed over the wording of messages to sorta-friends, who has occasionally looked in the mirror in the morning and wondered how anyone could love an ugly face like yours, who has thought bad, stupid thoughts about your bad, stupid self even though you know better.

That same you is the one who, against all odds, has made it to this very moment.

Born a freaking miracle. Biologically designed to survive.

That person is irrepressible–doggedness is encoded into your cells. Your strength is an entity that increases upon your request for more.

So, this month, decide to not be deterred.

Summon your reserves of energy and pluck and find a way.

Find a way to innovate. To forget preconceived notions, and look at a problem with an open mind.

Find a way to feel free.

Find a way to prosper in the present circumstances.

Find a way to remind yourself that you are important, and find a way to remember you are part of a larger world.

Find a way to make it work (FAWTMIW), whatever “it” is for you, and refuse to give up.

Find a way to have faith that no matter how it screws up, life always, always rights itself eventually.