Cheryl Lee Ralph

on that Emmy stage, with this huge sign in front of me, flashing, stop now, stop now, stop now.

And I started to think, my God, what if I had stopped after all of those no's?

What if I had stopped after all of those moments of feeling defeated?

What if I had stopped?

I wouldn't be standing there for that golden moment.

But right now, many of us, we are feeling deeply challenged, trying to hold on and believe in ourselves, and I do not mean in a toxic way.

I am talking about a way that comes from confidence, the kind of confidence that can keep us moving forward when we are feeling

like we are carrying the weight of the pandemic, trying to figure out all of this political division, fighting all of the mental, physical, social violence in our homes, in our communities, to climate change, social media.

It's a lot.

Making it hard to believe in the goodness in the world

and harder still to believe in the goodness of ourselves.

This is a rough time, people, and our mental health is suffering.

We all need a checkup from the neck up.

And I don't mean just medicine.

I actually mean reframing our thinking

of our ability to believe in ourselves.

Now, I know, you see me on TV, in magazines, on movie screens, and you might be thinking to yourself, what does she know about struggling to believe in herself?

Well, let me tell you something.

I do not look like my journey.

Oh, I've been through a few things, and the struggle is real.