Living is harder than giving up, and it’s time we take a moment to appreciate the gift of life.  Simply stop and be grateful for the fact that we are alive.  Be grateful for the magic we create and what we are able to do with this life.  Once we understand the magnitude of the fact that we are here, walking and talking meat bags and then throw in the things we are able to do, it’s a pretty significant and humbling experience. We see we are both large and small at the same time.  I opened this piece stating that living is harder and I don’t mean that in the respect that we should lament life or that “it’s too hard.”  To me, that sentiment is a choice.  Living is the harder choice and giving up is easy because living requires making decisions and taking responsibility for them.  But when we understand our place in this universe and connect with our purpose, suddenly living becomes the only option and it feels amazing.  We have so much more power than we think we do, and it is a gift.

We’ve been talking about foundations and visions and doing the work with the time we have.  We’re very good at negating life and our accomplishments.  We are quick to say “it wasn’t a big deal” when we should be saying, “thank you for the compliment”.  Stop diminishing the magic that is this life.  Stop wasting our time thinking it isn’t an amazing thing to be alive.  Stop wasting time waiting for permission to live.  Stop wasting time making others believe we aren’t good enough so they can tell us we are.  Our worth is inherent and it is in us—all of us.  There may be days we feel like giving up and those are the days we need to decide—is this a pause or a break.  There are days we may need extra support and we need to decide—do we wallow waiting for someone to give it to us or do we nurture ourselves and stand back up?  It isn’t easy but we are far more resilient than we think we are.  We are far more creative than we think we are.

I spent a lot of time hating myself physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  I was the child born too late, years after my family had already established themselves.  I was always trying to prove my place, to feel like I belonged.  I was too small so I tried to make myself bigger.  I equated my worth with my productivity and my ability to perfect everything I did.  I had no connection to source and thought I needed to earn that type of connection, not understanding source is available to all.  I looked at myself in the mirror at work the other day and I lamented something about the way I looked and a voice immediately popped in my head, “How dare you.”  It took me a second but I realized it was right.  This body has done amazing things—it has carried me through 39 years, it has given life, it has helped people through their toughest moments and my own.  I have built a family and a home and I care for my friends. That is no small feat. It is no small feat that my body functions on its own (or that any of ours do) in spite of all the crap I throw at it.  This life is nothing to sneeze at—this existence is a miracle.  Do not give up and think that we are not enough—EVER.  Stop diminishing any second of the time we have here by thinking it isn’t good enough.  Celebrate every magical, miraculous moment we have on this planet and do everything we can with that time.  Living is harder, but it is the greatest accomplishment we can do.  Don’t give up.