Affirmation 4/1/18

Trust yourself. You know what you need. You know how far you can push. Trust yourself. Listen to yourself.

I’m glad you’re here.

Affirmation 10/4/17

Deep breath. Trust yourself. Listen to yourself. Listen to what your body is telling you. It’s trying to help.

I’m glad you’re here.

Affirmation 9/27/17

Deep breath. Take time to listen to yourself. Listen to what your body and mind and heart are telling you that you need. Slow down and be gentle with yourself.

I’m glad you’re here.

Affirmation 9/26/17

Friend, you are valid. Your pains are valid. Your struggles are valid. Your goals are valid. So are those of people around you. We’re in this together. Listen to each other. Support each other, not just in successes. Support each other when it’s uncomfortable, when you don’t fully understand. Support isn’t about how it benefits you. Support is taking a step back from yourself to help someone else. It’s okay to let people in.

I’m glad you’re here.

Affirmation 9/4/17

You cannot control everything. You can control yourself. Do that. Enjoy that. Embrace that.

I’m glad you’re here.

Affirmation 7/24/17

Deep breath. Things are about to get serious. Deep breath. You, dear friend, are doing beautifully. It won’t always feel like it. I’m so sorry for that. Some times people will see how well you’re doing and will try to take that good feeling away from you. Listen, that’s up to them. That’s their own heart. I’m here to remind you just how well you are doing, even when it doesn’t feel like it.

I’m glad you’re here.

Affirmation 7/23/17

Dear one, today is just another day. You can get through it. It may not be simple. It may not be hard. You can do this day. Either way. And listen, it may not go exactly the way you’d like, but at the end, you’re done. And that’s an accomplishment too. Keep working. You can do this.

I’m glad you’re here.

Affirmation 1/19/17

Friend, it is so important to feel and to be heard. Remember you aren’t the only one with a voice. Take time to hear those around you. It is okay to be still and to listen. You’ll get your chance to speak. Make sure that others do as well.

I’m glad you’re here.

Affirmation 8/8/16

You are good at loving people. You are so good at it. You listen and take care and stand up and fight on behalf of so many people you love. Make that more potent. Love yourself. Listen and take care and stand up and fight on behalf of yourself. Be someone you love. I love you. We need you.

I’m glad you’re here.

Adventure in staying strong

971) Listen as hard as you can. You may only get the one chance.
972) When your heart is on the line, don’t just let things go.
973) When you find yourself at a loss for words, please, don’t try to come up with something to say.
974) If someone has shared something important with you, treat it as such.
975) Your burdens are not that burdensome to those who love you.
976) Please, don’t feel alone in your pain. Your pain is unique to you, but know you aren’t the only one hurting.
977) Put in the extra effort.
978) There is always hope.
979) When you feel lost in the world, don’t hide in your home.
980) You are not your job.

The days wear on, and I feel myself struggling on. A pair of friends in Indy. Torn between two worlds. I love my job. I love my apartment. I love Huntington. I miss my friends. And yet, I’m in Huntington right now, and I find myself feeling out-of-place in a place that just one month ago, two weeks ago even, I called “home.”

A painful but beautiful afternoon with a friend brought me out of dark place and into a different but still straining place. Every day is more beautiful and more difficult than the last. And yet there is pain out there different and more complicated than mine, that I must not neglect or ignore.

And here I am, struggling to find the words.