Every Word You Cannot Say

by Iain S. Thomas

You are part of a beautiful story.

But life is not special because of what happens after it’s over. Life is special because life is special.

Your story is special.

(And I know you’re worried about what it takes to live, to speak, to start to feel better.)

It takes time. But time is all it takes. Not your heart. Not your life. Just time.

*We forget that how a person acts in each moment is not who they are, that each person is a series of moments and we cannot judge any moment in isolation, and use that moment to define them. It is not up to others, it is up to us, which moments we want to hang on to, for good or for bad. We forget our successes and enshrine our failures. We forget there is still a child in all of us, begging for love. We forget that this is true of every person we meet.

We only hear the loudest voices when really, we should be listening to the quietest.

Here is the secret we all know: We all want to love. We’re all afraid we are alone. We’re afraid no one will know who we were. Because on some level, we all know you can die without love, without anyone, without even you knowing who you are.

But you cannot see the parts of you that shine when you’re not looking, because all you see when you look at yourself is the picture other people have painted for you. And that’s not who you are.

The world will always wear you down, so let it wear you down until only the good remains. Hold on to the incredible parts of you that survive.

But the correct response to pain, is self-love. When we’re hurt, we need to take better care of ourselves. Not worse.

Maybe, making peace with the world starts with making peace with ourselves.

Not everyone wins the lottery, but everyone who does bought a ticket. To live the life you want, you have to be brave and buy the ticket every single day.