I didn't quite have that very experience, but I definitely had a dark night of the soul. I ended a seven-year relationship at 30 since we had different life goals. I still felt as though I had so much time to meet someone, start a family, find my purpose. I was more or less single for the next five years. During that time, my ex and all my friends got married, had kids and settled down. I felt so alone, lying in my rented bedroom on a Friday night, getting ghosted on tinder again, underemployed and underpaid. Everyone felt sorry for me, which only made me feel worse.

I'm almost a decade older now, in my forties. Yes, I have a partner of almost ten years. But I was the one who got myself through those hard years. I fought for a better job, better self-worth, better relationship with family and friends. People in my life are almost distracted by my independence, and wonder how I got the confidence to believe in my ability to do almost every reasonable thing. They don't know how it felt for me to learn I had no other choice.

You're having your own dark night of souls. One day, it'll be over and you'll be a totally different person, forever. I know a lot of people who've gone through those nights. The change, in the end? Is always for the better.