Dear Sweet, Tender-Hearted Human,

When you want to run,

When you don’t want to feel,

When you don’t think anyone will notice your absence,

When the words spoken and unspoken that you hear sting,

When the stares and glances that shadow your light are cast,

When you begin to want to small yourself away,

When you want to give up the fight,

When you just don’t think it matters,

When you just want to go through the motions rather than feeling it all,

When you don’t want to take up space,

When you don’t feel like anyone sees you shining your light,

Remember you’ve got your people who care,

Stop apologizing for having boundaries,

Stop apologizing for feeling deeply,

Stop apologizing for saying what needs to be said,

Remember why you’re here.

It’s not easy, any of it.

In a world of chaos, mixed messages, and a culture of fear, we are oh so often told that we have to prove ourselves and our worth. This proving of worth has become so intimately tied into our sense of belonging and the space we take up in this world.

What if, one day, we just stopped struggling, and stopped fighting it.

What if we stopped needing to prove ourselves.

And what if this lack of struggle and lack of fighting what you need and you crave carried over to the rest of life?

What if we remembered why we’re really here, and that it doesn’t have to be such a struggle to get there?

~

“Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.” ~ Viktor Frankl

“Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how.’” ~ Viktor Frankl

“What is to give light must endure burning.” ~ Viktor Frankl

ear~

Author: Caitlin Oriel

Image: A./Flickr