Whether you are struggling with a particularly difficult challenge, or just finding yourself caught up in the disturbing news of this time, how can you find a sense of equilibrium? I find myself moving between despair and remembrance, remembrance of the spiritual values that sustain me. My practice is to continue to refocus on the spiritual path.

What are spiritual values? Spiritual values can mean living according to your own religious belief system to find strength and purpose, or they can mean having faith in the human spirit—the ability to persevere and maintain a connection with the world in which we live, a sense of continuity.

Poet Robert Frost, who won four Pulitzer Prizes and a Congressional Gold Medal suffered many tragedies in his life. He survived his wife and four of his six children, had a son die of suicide, and had to commit one of his daughters to a mental hospital.

But through it all, Frost continued to write poetry. Perhaps writing poetry is what saved him. When he was 80, an interviewer asked him: “In all your years and all your travels, what do you think is the most important thing you’ve learned about life?”

He replied: “In three words, I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on. In all the confusions of today, with all our troubles . . . all of us become discouraged . . . tempted to say this is the end, the finish. But life — it goes on. It always has. It always will. Don’t forget that.”

Robert Frost wrote poetry that has inspired many. What can you do to sustain your ability to live with meaning and purpose? One idea is to have a focal point, an image, a thought you can return to. It can be a memory of a time when you felt safe and at peace. When I was in the hospital with COVID last year, I would sit up during the night and meditate, imagining myself on a bluff at dawn looking out at a clear calm sea.

What image, thought, or memory can sustain you? Write it down. Turn it into a poem or a phrase if you like.

Paul McCartney was going through a particularly hard time when he had a dream in which his mother, who had died years earlier came to him, comforting him. Her name was Mary.

And when the night is cloudy
There is still a light that shines on me
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be
I wake up to the sound of music,
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be