By the time I write the next Dear Fifi, Christmas will be OVER! Mad, eh?

Not everyone finds December festive and fun. It can be a shitty time of year for lots of reasons – but just know that you’re not alone if you’re not out gambolling around singing Bing Crosby and quaffing mulled wine. Feel free to send me your problems, Yuletide-centric or otherwise, right here.

Dear Fifi,

Will it be okay?

Yes.

I promise you that things can and will get better. Everything ends up okay. Okay might not look exactly – or anything at all – like how you imagined it would, but eventually things always find their way back there. You can be sure of it.

That’s not to say that sometimes things aren’t so hard that it nearly takes all the fight and life out of you. I know that sometimes fighting for (or even waiting for) okay to return seems impossible. But it’s not and never is.

Maybe you’ve done it before, maybe you’ll do it again, maybe it feels worse than ever this time – I don’t know. But don’t worry, because this time isn’t the exception. It’s part of the rule. Okay is always possible.

Nothing is so broken that it cannot be fixed. That includes you. That includes whatever situation you’re dealing with. (Bear in mind that a fix doesn’t always mean an exact repair and that’s okay too.)

In the relentless pursuit of being okay also known as life, there are some failsafes that help. Talk to someone if you can. Don’t be discouraged. Keep talking, keep trying. Remember it will pass – or change. Be kind to yourself.

There’s nothing wrong with feeling profoundly not okay. The only wrong thing would be to forget that there’s always, always a bit of okay coming, no matter how far away it sometimes seems.

It will always be okay.

If you need to talk, contact:

• Samaritans 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org
• Aware 1800 80 48 48 (depression, anxiety)
• Pieta House 1800 247 247 or email mary@pieta.ie (suicide, self-harm)
• Teen-Line Ireland 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19)
• Childline 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s)