Dear Precious YOU,
Sometimes we forget who really are.
Or, maybe we never really knew.
Too much has happened.
We don’t have what it takes.
We’ve done too much harm.
We aren’t good enough.
We will never measure up.
We haven’t done enough.
In our mind we are broken, bad or beat down by the circumstances or choices of our lives.
I am here to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way.
It is never too late to search for and accept a hand up, to dust off your knees, wipe the tears from your cheeks and discover the incredible creation that is YOU.
I am not talking false platitudes here.
You are a living, breathing, supernatural phenomenon!
Look at what YOU have been through.
Look at what YOU have survived!
You are still here.
That is NO accident.
Cloaking the hurt or shame with silence, anger, sarcasm or numbing may feel like the only safe option.
That is simply not true.
There is not a soul walking this planet who doesn’t have a tragedy in their story that would crack our hearts wide open. If we listened.
No one gets a free pass. No one has this thing called life all figured out. It may look that way from the outside, but trust me, beneath the surface we are all more alike than different.
This life walk were are on;
YOU can do it.
This knee buckling, heart breaking catastrophe;
YOU will get through it.
This dead end – brick wall – glass ceiling – mountain in front of you,
there is a WAY around or through it.
This thing called LIFE, we were never meant to do it alone.
Take this journey to YOU. Don’t stop. Get help. Don’t stop. Find a friend, a group, a church, a counselor. RELENTLESSLY search for those who lift you up, NOT those who commiserate with You.
The WORLD only gets ONE YOU.
I see the spark still burning in your eye, in your heart. Fan that flame!
I know it’s scary. Because I did it and I do it.
The BRAVEST thing I ever did was find a good counselor (it was my third attempt by the way), share my truth, share the shame and the hurts and the story that had been my life. This was not a one week or a one month process. This took YEARS of work and tears and digging to resurrect HOPE in my life. AND every single day of the painful journey, I would do again, to get to this Peace-full, Hope-full and Joy-full place I now live.
The WISEST thing I ever did was ask Jesus to help me. I still do this everyday.
These steps began a 16 year healing journey, that I am still on.
Do whatever it takes!
YOU are worth WHATEVER IT TAKES! You are worth the sacrifice, pushing through the fear, taking the time, showing up, spending the money and making the effort!
YOU are More than OKAY!
YOU are More than ENOUGH!
YOU ARE A FREAKING MIRACLE!
I PROMISE!
RESOURCES:
- Celebrate Recovery (for hurts, habits and hang-ups/ not only addiction)
- 12 Step Programs
- New Life Ministries newlife.com (counselor network and intensives)
- Your Local Church
- Your School’s Counseling Office
- braveliving.com Soul Restoration
- Your friend with the kind eyes and a big heart
- Falling Upward, by Richard Rohr
- The Gifts of Imperfection, by Brene Brown
- You are a Badass, by Jen Sincero
- Captivating or Wild at Heart, by Stasi and John Eldredge
Photo Credit: danielle-cohen.com
barb nicholson 
A perfect reminder ❤