reminders // an eph one-shot.

i need to stop trying to write other people’s stories


i need to remember that my voice is my own, and that the stories i tell are profound and beloved, that the way i see the world is different from how someone else might see it


i need to remember to tell the stories only i can tell, because i am the only one who has felt everything i have felt and seen everything i have seen


i need to remember i am here to fill a purpose only i can fill, that giving into the belief that i am worthless, that i can’t do anything like others can, will deprive the world of a new and wonderful perspective


i need to remember that the disadvantages i face only make it more incredible that i can do everything that i can, that i have come as far as i have, that these disadvantages do not make me less, they make me more: stronger despite my weakness, wiser despite my folly, beloved despite my own hatred for myself


i need to remember that i am the way i am for a reason, and maybe that reason is something as simple as the circumstances that shaped me, and maybe that reason is something as big as the universe, or bigger


i need to remember that though the world bucks and heaves below my feet, i am still standing on the same ground, i am still here, i am still alive, i am still important


i need to remember that there’s no right way to be me, that what is right for me might not be right for others, that the path i walk might be different or harder or easier, and that’s okay


i need to remember how to live, because sometimes i forget


i need to remember to forgive myself when i do forget


i need to remember to love myself even when it’s hard


i need to remember that it's okay to make mistakes, to fall down, to get lost


i need to remember it’s okay not to be okay sometimes, and that it’s okay to reach out if i need to


i need to remember that i am redeemable, forgivable, lovable, no matter what


i need to remember that i’m not the only one who knows what this is like: this hardship, this hurt, this hatred


i need them to remember these things, too


i need them to remember that even if it gets hard, they must hold onto their light and their lives with all they have, because being alive is something you only get one chance at, and even if it's hard, it's also beautiful


i guess i just need to remember it’s okay to need reminding, sometimes.


because it's hard, being human. 


but i only get one chance, so i must remember not to waste it.