Well-seasoned and well-traveled along the road of life, a wise person stopped to ponder a question many often ask:

“How many chances do you suppose life has to offer, in matters of the heart?”

Having gone quite a distance, often getting off track, this person walked alone once more.

“How many true loves can a person expect to find in this lifetime?”

Further still, this person pauses again along the side of the road, near a river, with the sun shining down to offer an impromptu mirrored reflection staring back.

“How can I know who I am or what value I hold if I have no one to tell me what I bring or what purpose I serve? How can I be fulfilled without someone to make me whole?”

The water, deep and still, begins to move in gentle, rippling waves in response to a light breeze. The image of the person is temporarily fuzzy, and, as it comes back into focus, it is to find a new reflection staring back—and finally an inner voice begins quietly:

“You hide your gift within. You are your own truest and first love. There is no magic spell or secret. No other person can make you whole. You needn’t do anything or be anyone to share the value you possess. You are a unique and beautiful spirit, gifted with a kind and generous heart. That you simply exist and breathe is exquisite. Value has less to do with what you can offer and everything to do with simply being who you are. That in itself is the hidden treasure.”

“And chances? Have I still a few left to take?”

“When the moment is right, you will find that there are exactly enough chances. You needn’t ‘do’ anything at all to find happiness and fulfillment within yourself. Find happiness in your own company first. The rest will follow, and you will find it has less to do with right or wrong and more to do with a willingness to still take a chance. Life offers no guarantees; it is what you choose to make of it.”

The wise person wept, realizing ignorance once more.

The most beautiful state of being is that tender balance between complete love and acceptance of self and the ability to share that love with someone else—not to complete you, but to complement that which you already hold dear. Only then will you truly be able to embrace the love of another and accept them unconditionally as well, knowing that the treasure that you seek was with you all along. And that any imperfections you find along the way, whether through your own reflection or that of others—well, consider them the finest of character traits that make us all human.

The journey of living and learning has made it possible to break without shattering. You remain intact and whole and possess the wisdom needed to choose what you share and with whom in the future.

Spoiler alert: Some of the most extraordinary gifts come to us disguised in some of the most (seemingly) ordinary people. Still waters run deep, and you will never find a diamond in the rough if you expect everything to shine at first glance.

And it’s the absence of polish that makes us real.

I want to be real always.