To The One Who Needs A Reason to Stay

To the one who needs a reason to stay,

I know nothing about you. I know nothing about your life, your relationships, or who you are as a person. But I don’t have to know any of that to be able to say with certainty that your life is valuable and you need to stay.

I could tell you that your parents would be devastated, but maybe you don’t talk to your parents. I could tell you that your boyfriend would never be the same, but maybe he broke your heart yesterday. So I won’t say any of that, even though it may be true. Instead, I’ll say this:

You have more to do. You have more to write, more to sing, more to say. You have more people to impact, more dogs to pet, you even have more french fries to eat. It all seems so insignificant, but I promise you it’s important.

You have more places to go. Have you seen the Eiffel Tower yet? How about Big Ben in London? St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow? And even if you’ve been to all those places, have you ever seen a kangaroo in Australia? Have you seen the Northern Lights? I hear you haven’t really lived until you’ve seen them.

You have more pictures to take. You still have to fill your camera roll with brilliant sunrises, roaring oceans, soaring birds, wagging tails, and blooming flowers. There are more faces that need to smile at your phone camera.

I know it’s difficult to want to stay, that it may be the last thing you want to do. But you are not alone in this world. You are not worthless, you are not unwanted, you are not unloved. Your life is valuable. You have a purpose. This life is beautiful—sometimes you just have to look a little harder to find it.

So, to the one who needs a reason to stay, let this be it. Stay.