Hope

By: Grace

Today my courage is my authenticity, and this is what gives me hope.

It’s opening myself up for love if love is what I want to receive. 

It’s opening my heart for joy if it is joy I want to receive. 

It’s knowing my own self-worth does not depend on others’ personal perceptions of me. It’s not overburdening myself with the labels the pale color of my skin carries. 

It’s laying a path for others to walk when I leave these walls as I stand on a foundation others have laid for me. 

It’s making a decision for me with the refreshing absence of power. 

It’s admitting I’m powerless not because I’m weak but to find what is empowering.

Courageously authentic, this is what it feels like to truly be made whole.

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Comments from the community:

You can feel the weight of regret in every line — and the courage it takes to stop hating yourself and try to heal.
— Sarah