stand tall
you've so much to be proud of
stand tall
and bold and brave and mighty and proud.
don't hide your scars (please don't hide)
but wear them proudly
as you stand tall, tall, taller still
reaching for who you were always meant to be,
climbing steps that wouldn't be possible without those scars.
stand tall. proud. bold. brave.
full of scars.
full of worth.
stand.
//
there is something to be said
for getting back up
over and over and over again.
there is something to be said
for standing tall again
no matter how many times you've fallen.
there is something to be said
for looking forward
when every voice is yelling to look back.
there is something to be said
for you.
to all the wins and losses
that have filled your year,
to every burst of laughter
and every bitter tear.
to each mountaintop victory
where the views took your breath away,
to the nights spent in the valley
where the darkness did the same.
you grew braver, you grew stronger
with every single one that passed
and you became a warrior
that through every storm will last.
//
I want you to know that you are enough
and I hate how those words don't do that truth justice.
because it's true, it's so true.
the person you were created to be,
the person you've become through every hard day,
every heartbreak,
every betrayal you just knew you wouldn't survive...
that's the one.
the one who is enough.
think of last year
of all it brought you.
the people you didn't know the year before
who you can't survive without now.
the nights you got to dance through &
the laughter you got to share &
the places you went &
the lips you kissed &
the hope you felt &
the things you saw
all in the span of one year.
it was hard, maybe
but it was good and full
and it shaped you.
remember that, when this year gets hard
(as it almost certainly will):
that while it may be hard
it is also full &
giving &
shaping.
always shaping.
it's not too late to start over
the second, the seventh, the twelfth of next month
all perfectly good days to start fresh.
but please don't feel like you have to.
start over, that is.
you are good, here, now.
just as you are.
you don't have to let go
if you are not ready.
a page turning, a clock ticking, a calendar flipping
none of it means you have to let go.
it's okay that you still need to work through that thing &
it's okay that you can't stop thinking about them &
it's okay that you're not ready to say, "it's okay" quite yet.
all of these things are a part of you
of you, just as you are, right now.
& you don't have to let go of any piece of yourself
unless you are ready.
it really is amazing, when you think about it.
the fact that you woke up today.
all of the things last year that could have killed you
but didn't
all of the ways the world could have broken you
but didn't
all of the times you could have given up
but didn't.
it really is amazing
so allow yourself to be amazed.
you did it.
