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I was in conversation with one of the brightest, sharpest and more driven people in my department.

“Some days,” I said, “I feel like I’m only just hanging on.”

“I feel like that some days too,” she said. “I think most people feel like that.”

I was surprised. If I’d been asked to pick someone who had it all together I would have named her. To have her admit she had days when she struggled was a bit of a shock.

And I thought, if even the people who look like they’re holding it together are not really holding it together, then is the whole world engaged in a massive game of pretending-everything-is-OK? Is everyone looking around, thinking, “Well no-one else seems to be struggling, it must just be me.”

And if everyone is just holding on by their fingertips, what would happen if we all let go, all at once?

Would the world stop turning?

Or would everyone look around and realise that they aren’t alone?