Hey you,

Yes, you. The one hanging by a thread. The one fighting each day and wakes up the next morning to do it all over again. Yes you, the one reading these words. To every human who needs the pat on the back to keep going. Despite every challenge and every sleepless night, you still get up the next day and get out of bed when that is the LAST thing you want to do. You fall down and pick yourself back up no matter how hard the fall was or the number of falls you've landed on. Thinking of those times where you really thought you couldn't make it another day and here you are - making it to another day. Success isn't measured by how many "wins" you have, it's measured by the effort and the progress made along the way.

It's brave of you continue to move forward and try to evolve as a person. It's brave of you to strive to be the best version of yourself. Even when those around you fail to see it, you are still valid. You are valid without their validations. You are important even if they can't acknowledge what you bring to the table. Just because they can't see your light, it doesn't make you invisible. You are not your mistakes. You are not defined by your past or one moment. Even on your most challenging day, you are worth it. When you feel down and think that you aren't, you are still very much worth it.

Guess what — It is completely okay to be flawed. You are going to mess up and life isn't always going to be perfect but it will be beautiful. You’re allowed to make mistakes because how else would you learn? Your life will be your story, unlike anyone else's, and that’s the beauty of it. It is completely okay to say no to others. It's okay to put yourself before others; your needs are just as important, if not more, as their wants. Please don't doubt the decision or feel the need to defend the reason why you are choosing yourself over them. I hope you learn to say yes to yourself and to not feel bad for putting yourself first.

To the person balancing work and education. To the person whose working their ass off to feed themselves and a family. To the person who is working on themselves. To the person who feels like they are carrying the world and isn't doing a "good enough job". To the person fighting for each day. To every being who needs to hear this :

You are enough.

You are valid.

You are worth it.

You are loved.

You are strong.

You are beautiful.

You are important.

You are smart.

You are heard.

You are grand.

You are brave.

You are a warrior.

You are visible.

I challenge you to say these things to yourself every morning because I KNOW that you are all those and more. I want YOU to realize that you are all those great things and more. Remember: you are worth it, even on your worst day.