"Help me" - When It Feels Like You Almost Can’t Go On

By Alan Lowis

Help Me - Song by Alan Lowis

This song is about those moments when everything feels like too much — when you’re tired, overwhelmed, and quietly wondering how much longer you can keep going… when something deep inside is reaching out and crying for help.

If you’ve ever felt that way, or if you’re feeling it right now, you’re not alone.

This song is for you.

There are moments in life when it feels like everything is too much.

Not because you’re weak - you are stronger than you could possibly imagine - but because life can be heavy sometimes. It can be overwhelming, painful, confusing, it can suck.  And there are moments when you feel tired, lost, broken, or like you’re carrying more than you know how to hold.

You’re still here. You’re still trying. But inside, there’s a quiet voice of fear that wonders how much longer you can keep going.

We all face those moments — the ones where we say, “I can’t do this anymore,” or “I don’t know how to go on.”

So many powerful and beautiful stories begin exactly there.

Many of humanity’s greatest stories appear sad or hopeless at first because the main character is lost, stranded, hurt, alone, or suffering immensely, with no visible hope and no clear way forward.

Two extraordinary movies filled with pain, doubt, and deep loneliness with people in situations where they are physically alone and face overwhelming challenges to their very survival, are Cast Away with Tom Hanks and The Martian with Matt Damon.

In Cast Away, Tom Hanks’ character survives a plane crash and washes up alone on a deserted island. The plane went off course before the crash, so no one even knows where to look for him. Search efforts are happening in the wrong place and the truth he knows, is that there is virtually no hope of rescue. He has no shelter, no shoes, no food, no tools — nothing. Just isolation, fear, hunger, exposure, and endless days alone with his thoughts. And yet, slowly, painfully, day by day, he adapts. He learns to hunt and gather and to fish. He makes shelter. He fashions rope. He finds ways to make shoes. He creates fire. He uses whatever the tide brings ashore. Day by day, breath by breath, he survives — not because it’s easy, but because he refuses to stop living.

In The Martian, Matt Damon’s character is an astronaut who is left for dead on Mars, after a violent storm forces his crew into an emergency launch. Everyone believes he’s dead. No one knows he’s alive. He’s alone on a desolate planet, in a habitat designed to last only a short time, with limited food, no way to communicate, and no realistic chance of rescue for years — if ever. In the face of near-certain death, he reaches a moment of truth. He admits he thought he was going to die. And then he makes a decision: he’s going to live. Somehow he will find or make a way against seemingly impossible odds, but by solving one problem at a time. Step by step. Day by day. Breath by breath.

We will all face dark times. We will experience immense pain, seemingly impossible challenges, and moments of uncertainty where we don’t know if we can go on — or moments where it feels like we simply can’t.

We will feel alone sometimes, even when we aren’t — feeling like there is no one who can help or even understand. And sometimes we truly will be isolated, cut off, or physically alone.

But there is always something within us — a light, a strength, a spark. And there is always a force behind us. We may not see it or feel it in those moments, but it is always there.  You can call it inner strength, inner light, intuition, faith, God, love, life itself — whatever words resonate and feel right to you. 

By hanging on one more day, by breathing, by choosing to believe when there seems to be no reason to believe, breath by breath, day by day, by choosing to hold on and keep going, we, sometimes slowly, reconnect with something powerful inside us and around us. And when we do, it carries us through moments we don’t think we could survive and eventually brings us home.

And when we make it to the other side — and you will — something always changes for the better.

We come through stronger. We come through with depth. With new perceptions. With an unshakeable inner strength. With expanded compassion, profound insight, greater clarity, or a quiet confidence… or a feeling of grace. We gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and others. And often, new opportunities, meaningful relationships, joyful paths, or extraordinary experiences appear before us, that never would have existed had we not gone through what we went through.

If you’re currently feeling lost, tired, broken, or like you almost can’t go on, you don’t have to see the meaning in it right now. It’s ok to feel your pain.  You don’t have to understand why it’s happening or what the future benefit might be. You don’t have to feel positive today.

But what you have to do… You have to find a tiny spark of hope. You have to keep going.

Sometimes it’s a simple, small shift that changes everything.

It’s not that the fear or pain suddenly disappear — it’s that, for a moment, we allow a small spark of hope back in.

I can’t take this anymore becomes maybe I can handle it. I can’t face this becomes I can face this.

And eventually, I don’t know if I’ll make it becomes I know that I will.

Just a few words change in our mind, but something powerful happens in our heart. That tiny shift reconnects us to a deeper certainty and strength that were always there, beneath the fear — and once we reconnect with them, we’re no longer falling. We’re getting back up. And we’re moving forward.

Trust that you are not alone. Trust that something is holding you, guiding you, carrying you — even if you can’t feel it yet. Trust that life has not forgotten you. Trust that this moment is not the end.

And just to be clear — this is not us telling you to just be positive and everything will get better.

When people are in real pain, they can’t hear that, and they don’t want to hear it. 

Being told “everything happens for a reason” when everything hurts can feel heartless or tone-deaf - because in some ways it is… for the moment. 

Being told “you’re going to be fine” when you can’t see how that could be possible -  feels like false hope and feels like no one actually understands.  Because you really can’t see how it’s going to be fine… yet.

But simply saying “I feel your pain, and, yes, everything does suck,” has the risk of trapping you there in the pain and suffering. And jumping straight to “it’s all for good and you’re going to be okay” skips over you, ignoring your pain and creating resistance.

What actually connects is this… Because it’s the truth.

I feel your pain.

Yes, everything sucks right now in the moment. You are understood. You are seen. You are heard. It’s hard.  It’s painful.  It’s difficult.  You have been through and are going through a lot. And… You are not alone. You matter.  You are understood and cared for.  You are loved. And, you are stronger than you know.

You don’t have to fix everything right now. You don’t have to see the whole path right now.  

You just have to keep going — breath by breath, step by step — because there is a spark of hope within you, because seasons change, because the tide comes in, because the sun will rise again.

Life has seasons.

It’s not always sunshine and roses, even though we sometimes expect it to be. In nature, everything moves in cycles — day and night, winter and spring, planting and harvest. And our lives follow the same rhythm, whether we realize it or not.

Interestingly, in English we call them “seasons”, but in Romance languages — like Latin, Spanish, Italian, French, Romanian and Portuguese — the words point more clearly to what they really are: a temporary station, a period of time, a phase you pass through. 

Even the English word season comes from an older root meaning sowing or planting — the specific time when something is placed into the ground so that, later, in time, something extraordinary will grow.

A season is not who you are.  A season is where you are, for now…

Sometimes we are in winter. Things feel cold, dark, stripped down. Growth is happening underground, but we can’t see it… yet.

Sometimes the nights feel long, but the sun always rises. 

Sometimes the pain feels everywhere — personal, permanent, pervasive and overwhelming — and that’s when hope can fade, because it feels like this is just how life is now.

But it isn’t.

The season is temporary. The pain is temporary. The situation is temporary.

What’s not temporary is you — your soul, your spirit, the spark of life within you — and whatever you call the source that created you and sustains you.

When everything feels permanent and personal and pervasive, it can feel like there’s nothing we can do. But there is something we can do. 

We can keep going. We can keep moving. We can keep breathing. And we can choose to believe — not that everything is fine, but that this is a season… And seasons always change.

When suffering feels endless, it’s often because it feels permanent. But sometimes, just remembering that this is a season — a stretch of time, a temporary station — is enough to help us hold on and get through.

Because that spark of hope will ignite and become a steady flame that carries you forward.

This is not the end of your story. It’s just the chapter where you face a challenge and grow. The page will turn. Winter will turn into spring. The tide will bring something new.

The sun will rise again. And so will you.

If You Need Support Right Now

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsafe right now, please reach out to someone who can support you — a trusted friend, a loved one, or a professional.

If you’re in the U.S., you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. If you’re outside the U.S., local crisis resources are available in most countries.

You don’t have to carry this alone. You are not alone.

If You Feel Called to Share This

We hope these words — and this song — reach you in the way they’re meant to.

If you’ve already been through something hard, we hope they remind you of your own journey — of the moments when you didn’t think you could make it, and somehow you did. We hope they help you remember your strength, your resilience, and the light that carried you through when you couldn’t see it at the time.

If you’re in the middle of the storm right now, we hope these words and this song help you feel connected, understood and loved.  We hope they remind you that you matter, that you are seen, heard, and felt, and that you are not alone.

If someone came to mind as you were reading this — someone who’s been through tough times, or someone who’s struggling right now — consider sending this to them. Not as advice or a solution, but simply as a way of saying, I see you, I care about you, and you’re not alone.

If you know someone who’s going through a hard time, reach out. Share this article or the song if it feels right — but more importantly, let them know you’re there for them. Let them know they are never truly alone. People aren’t always ready for help or answers in the moment, and often they need to find or make their own way, without solutions from others.

No matter the situation, no matter the challenge, no matter what we face or suffer, all of us can feel a difference and do find strength, solace, and hope when we know that someone truly cares about us and is willing to meet us where we are, in the storm, and simply, truly understand.

Help Me Song Lyrics 

by Alan Lowis

[Verse 1]

Can’t do this on my own

Feeling so all alone

I need guidance

Alone in the silence

Give me direction

I need protection

Or maybe connection

Can’t stand my own reflection

[Chorus 1]

Help Me

I feel like I can’t make it

I’m trying hard to face it

Don’t know if I can take it

Help me

[Verse 2]

See me

Hear me

Help me

Free me

Help me please

I’m on my knees

I’m drowning

I’m sinking

Lost in thinking

[Chorus 2]

Help me

I feel like I can’t make it

I’m trying hard to face it

Don’t know if I can take it

Help me

[Verse 3]

Pain in my heart

I’m falling apart

I’m at my limit

Feel like I’m finished

Inside I’m hurting

My life is burning

I feel so all alone

Heart turning to stone

Can you just give me a hand

[Chorus 3]

Help me

I feel like I can’t make it

I’m trying hard to face it

Don’t know if I can take it

Help me

[Bridge]

You’re not alone

I’m always here

You’re always loved

Let go the fear

It’s not the end

You’re not alone

You’ll find your way

You’re coming home

Breath by breath

Step by step

You’ll find your way

A brand new day

[Final Chorus]

Help me

I know that I can take it

I feel like I can face it

I know that I will make it

Help me

I know that I can take it

I feel like I can face it

I know that I will make it

Help me

I know that I can take it

I feel like I can face it

I know that I will make it Help me

A Companion Song

This song is part of a pair. When ready, please be sure to listen to "I'm Free."

"Help Me" gives voice to pain, fear, and vulnerability. It’s meant to be felt — sometimes deeply — because acknowledging what hurts matters.

But it’s not meant to be sung forever.

"I’m Free" is the companion song, written for when you’re ready to take the next step — when the spark of hope has appeared and you want to reinforce strength, certainty, and the knowing that you will make it.

When the time feels right, "I’m Free" helps carry you home.