This world is a beautiful place. But it’s also a terrifying place. It’s also a place filled with bitterness and pain, brokenness and hate, loneliness and fear. There are people who will not do the right thing, people who won’t love you the way you love them, people who won’t show mercy, even when it’s so deserving. There will be moments where you fail despite your best efforts, where you fall flat on your face, where everything you dreamed slips right out of your fingertips. There will be days where you wish everything away.

But no matter what darkness clouds your vision, no matter what weight bears down on your heart, no matter how alone and forgotten and broken you feel—you are a light.

A light that cannot be dimmed.

You are simple beginnings turned bright through perseverance. You are happiness and joy brought out in the most difficult of circumstances. You are hope, found in the lowest moments.

You are love. You are light. You are grace.

You are an accumulation of all the places you’ve been and the hearts you’ve touched. You are the words shared between strangers, the silent smiles that brightened someone’s day. You are the kindness that seeps through your pores, the simplicity of the morning sun, basking on your skin.

You are a light, burning bold and beautiful for the world from the minute you opened your eyes.

With your presence, you encourage.
With your laugh, you open.
With your kiss, you excite.
With your hands, you heal.

And no matter what the world does to try to take that away, no matter what obstacles are thrown in your path, no matter what beats you down or tries to steal the color and vibrancy of your being—you will forever be shining into the darkness.

So please, promise to never let anyone steal your light.

Promise to be so bright that you blind anyone who attempts to destroy you. Promise to be so colorful that you cannot be covered by shadows, by dusk, even by evening’s sky, like a blanket covering the sun.

Promise to be so strong that you will outshine those who do not see your brilliance. Promise to be so free that no one can look at you and not see a beautiful, unbound life.

Promise that no matter what night brings, you always rise again, refreshed and renewed in the simple fact that you were created for a reason. That you are meant to be right here, right now. That you are okay, and whatever you face will not keep you down for long. That tomorrow is forever and always a new day.

You are a light. You are a ray. You are not meant to be hidden or held back by fear.

Do not let anyone take away your ability to experience this world—to dance, to sing, to laugh, to cry, to feel the closeness of souls—the touch of the wind, the sun, a lover’s hand on your skin.

Do not let anyone make you believe that you are anything less than beautiful.

And shine—fully and fearlessly—all of your days.