I see the girl and I know she's forgotten it.
I know this because she reminds me of someone else I know, someone I know well, someone who seems to forget it everyday; most days every hour; somedays every minute.
The girl's forgotten her worth. She's mixed it up with other things that don't nearly matter, believed the lies that it's a quality you must earn.
For that girl, for me, for you, for all the times we forget our worth:
You are brave because you decided to do today. You allowed your feet to hit the floor. You got up. You showed up. You woke up. Or maybe you didn't, but you will. There will be a day where you will, and you are brave now, even before that day comes.
You are loved and I know this because you are here. The gentle hands that carved the ripples in the sea carved the bridge in your nose, and the roundness of your lips, and the arches in your feet -- the same feet which will take you places you can't yet dream of.
You are alive even if life feels like a miserable, pitiful thing. But you have passions welling up inside of you, I know they're there, though they might feel hidden right now. And you will create beautiful things, beautiful stories, because that is who you are: a beautiful, intricate, untold story.
You are filled with courage and I don't care if you're also filled with fear, because when you are courageous you will most likely still be afraid. And that is okay. I believe courage is when you choose to step past that overwrought, frantic place, and even though your heart will still be pounding and your knees might be shaking, you are courageous.
You are mighty because you have made it through hard things. The big hard things, the small ones too, the everyday ones that wear on you so you feel thin and worn out and needing grace. That grace is there for you, outstretched like an open hand, a grace for you, you mighty thing.
You are worthy and may I shout this from the mountain peaks and the roof tops and the hills in Rwanda, I will shout it loud for you to hear, echoing over again: you are worthy, you are worthy, you are worthy, and this will be my anthem for you and for me alike. Because you are, and even when you forget it, may I remind you. You are worthy.
And mighty.
And filled with courage.
And alive.
And loved.
And brave.
I'll say this to the girl, and maybe she won't believe me, but maybe -- just maybe she will -- and even if she doesn't, I'll keep on telling her. I'll keep on telling you too. And perhaps you'll keep on telling me.