This song cannot not change your life.
#mybestfriendblessesme
…because love wins.
Unemployment.
You know, it’s becoming more and more common every day that the people around me end up unemployed. It’s not because they didn’t try. It’s not because they’re not smart. It’s not even for lack of degree. It’s just that this is how it is right now.
But you know what? It’s okay. Keep trying. Never give up. Don’t you dare think that you do not have value because you’re without a job. You are brilliant. You are able. You are not a title and you are not just a person. You are YOU. There is no one else like you.
But if you’re at a job, and you’re not appreciating, be sure to stop doing that. And enjoy your life.
Jesus says this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmi9IBP209s
…because love wins.
In the Hall of Fame.
Often in life, as a leader of many who is also a young adult, I’ve had a lot of lash back. Not that people didn’t like what I was doing, or didn’t want to walk alongside me, but that people often times didn’t (and don’t) believe what I am saying or that why I am acting is genuine.
But the reality is, even in this broken world, some people are still honest. And some people really do still care about you. And they don’t do things half way. They are loyal. They will come in the middle of the night – probably with your favorite tray of cookies.
And they aren’t here to push you under or away.
In the midst of bombings in Boston and explosions in Texas and entire countries unaware of the outside world because of tyrants, be a sparkle. Be a light. Don’t let people who aren’t genuine make you think that you can’t be either.
It’s that kind of thing that gets you in the hall of fame.
…because love wins.
I have depression.
I have depression.
But I am not depression.
I am not a foggy thought.
I am not a worried eye.
I am not an aimless tear.
I am not a useless try.
I am not my frustration.
I am not just lazy.
I am not really mean.
I am not crazy.
I am simply me.
I have depression.
But I am not depression.
I overcome each day.
Just to get out of bed.
I wake up and say,
“I’m going to try again.”
I withhold how I feel.
And sort my self from my thoughts.
I try to be who I am.
And even if you don’t understand,
I’ll never see you for what you’re not.
I have depression.
But I am not depression.
I am open, honest, helped.
I am well.
I am stable.
I am understanding.
I am able.
I am strong.
I’ve sought light.
I’ve come to see,
That life doesn’t have to be a fight.
I have depression.
But I am not depression.
I write these things to you,
and you may know what it feels,
or you could turn and walk away.
But there is one thing to know –
whether you have depression or you don’t,
the world around you has depression,
so tell them right now that they’re not alone.
I have depression.
But I am not depression.
A little known fact about me is that my family is riddled with depression. I myself manage it, understand it, and am treated for it each day. I’m writing this honest post to share with those who have depression that you are not alone – there is hope, there is life, there is sanity beyond the fight.
I am well. I have been taken care of. This society that we live in seems to think that those with depression are muted by their medications or should be left alone to cry. But I want to silence that today, because you’ve seen me, and I’m alive.
Who I am is not pretend. I’m just finally me. So do not leave those with mental illness alone. Rather, take a moment, and help them believe.
Most importantly – I am not my depression. I am not hiding, running, fearing. I am free. If you have depression, you don’t have to live this way. Reach out just a little even if you don’t feel you have the strength. Someone will help you until you can walk again.
If you are afraid of depression, ask me about it. Seek to understand. You can no more hide than a penny in a water glass. Be kind – for you yourself may face this one day.
And if you’re taking care of your depression – I am so proud of you. And I’m not the only one.
I’m going to leave you with a video of a little girl with cancer and rotationplasty who I have been blessed to mentor. She is brilliant, and though this dance exemplifies overcoming a physical disability, it speaks to our mental lives as well.
Share this with your friends and family and share your success stories below. And, keep smiling – on and on.
Oh, and, just don’t ever. give. up. One more breath at a time.
…because love wins.
Don’t ever let go.
There are things in this life that were never meant to be gone. Sunsets. Ice cream cones. Funny pictures. Green grass. Lemonade. Sprinklers. Softball games. People. And apparently the show Survivor, but we won’t go there right now.
As I sit in my room in what still feels like a new city to me, I remember things to which I am not willing to say goodbye. They replay like I think they should on nights like this. Not sad, just…not here. Giggles in the solarium. Bike gangs. Sunsets on Garvin. Prayer. Deep, real, feeling. Sore hearts and many amateur photographers becoming famous. Laughing about how we have no idea what’s going on. (Like we do now…but we’re just not laughing in the same room.) The sunrise. Breathe. Maid of Honor wedding time. Walking into a house and knowing everyone…all over the city. Tears and laughter. And moments of divorce with parents and the way we were all together all the time.
It’s not that I can’t let go or move on or love what I have here, but it’s that I do not believe we were meant to say goodbye to things which once gave us such joy. Stay together. Make phone calls. Cry if you have to. Go to your new jobs and be “adults”. Laugh with new people and cry with new people and talk about the old ones forever.
But just don’t ever let go.
…because love wins.
Waiting.
Fifteen years ago today I was in a cold hospital, waiting to start 49 weeks of chemotherapy. If there was one thing that I got good at while sitting in the hospital, clinic, or that year, was waiting. Not that we ever get good at waiting, I suppose, but I did get more accepting of the reality that time moves as it does.
When I have been healthy in my life, time has flown. As soon as it gets hard, I have the flu, or I have a cancer check-up, I wait again. And it’s hard.
But I’ve learned, that the waiting can be a wonderful time to know myself, and to know Jesus. That while I want something I deem good to come, it is already here. If I’m waiting, I’m already running the race for Jesus.
And I’ve learned that chances are, the waiting is time for me to rest. So just like I rested before a battle for my life, I’ve learned to always wait, serve, and live.
I’ve learned we’re never really waiting – what we want, we already have.
His name is Jesus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozjzeQ9oiSM
…because love wins.
Heartbreak.
Sometimes it seems like everything hard is happening all at the same time. Do you get that? Do you know what that feels like? When you lose someone?
When you lose yourself?
This has been one of those years. Not just a day, or a week. It’s been a brutal year. Loss of people, loss of places, loss of security, loss of knowing. I’ve been way way way down. I’ve cried more than I’ve ever cried. And I’ve learned again the beauty of coming up. I’ve laughed more than I’ve ever laughed.
I feel alive. More than ever.
Last night a friend of mine called me after having a hard week himself. He doesn’t really know it, but his own bright spirit in the midst of a breaking down is enough to remind me that I have climbed up the hill. That I have more muscle, and that while I’m not to the top of the mountain yet, that this climb is beautiful.
Heartache is a mountain.
And your heart is a muscle. I say that a lot, after hearing it performed live in a song with a friend who has also been through great loss, and I learned that it’s true.
Heartbreak isn’t real. Our hearts our muscles, growing stronger as we climb. They don’t ever just…break.
Today marks 15 years since the day I was told I had stage 4 bone cancer. I remember the day like it was this morning. My heart races when I think of it, and I remember how afraid I was. I thought my heart couldn’t possibly beat again.
But here I am, 15 years later, even after a rough year, standing, looking up at the mountain, and smiling as I take one more step.
Just let the light come in. I promise you deeply, friend…this is not the end.
…because love wins.
My leg, for you.
I never met the man to whom I gave my prosthetic leg, but his name is Francisco. He lives in Nicaragua, and because I had rotationplasty, he was able to use one of my old legs to walk – all the way across the world.
You know, we’re not made for anything but to hold one another up.
Walk strong, Francisco. It served me well – and now it’s yours.
…because love wins.
Because Love Wins 