You, My Darling

Originally published on March 11th, 2018

You, my darling, are strong.
You are brave, devoted, and courageous.
You are not small
You are not weak or frightened, and you are not the problem.

You, my darling, are going to do so many amazing things
You will change the world for the better.
You will find happiness, love, and peace,
And I know you will give those things to other people.

You don’t need to have a place inside the heart of someone else.
You are your own person, your own place.
Do not let yourself become a walking apology, or a running metaphor.
You are made of mountains, and laughter. Oceans, and flowers.

Do not be afraid of love, it is simply a complicated, beautiful thing.
Falling into love is like skydiving, scary at first and then exhilarating.
It is like discovering a mountain top after hours of climbing.
Falling into love is like seeing individual leaves for the first time.

Do not spend all your time being afraid of being deceived, left, or broken.
It is hard to move on from the adrenaline rush, even when it’s the right thing to do.
It is hard to step down from the mountain top. The view is still so beautiful.
But do not spend all your time preparing for the hike back down.

Instead, know this: You are the best things that this world has.
You are ice cubes on hot days, and tea on cold ones.
You are laughter, and smiles, and inside jokes.
You are sunshine after months of rain, and you are the sunbeam through clouds of worry.

Do not let yourself believe you are anything but good, anything but worthy.
Let yourself believe in love, in joy, in sunshine and in mountain tops.
You are your own. You do not need to be someone else’s.
Because you, my darling, are everything you want to be.