Here are some of the most beautiful things you’ll ever learn.
You are allowed to take up space, to feel, to think, to grow. You are allowed to evolve, to heal, to repair. You are allowed to start (and start over).
You are allowed to change, to redefine yourself, to define your self-worth, to figure out who you are outside of another human being, to be different, to be better.
You are allowed to own your truth. You are allowed to rise.
Here are some of the most powerful things you’ll ever learn.
You are allowed to raise your hand, to ask questions, to want more, to need more, to reach for more, and ask for and even demand more.
You are allowed to question what you were taught about yourself, the world, and your place in it.
You are not obligated to justify or explain or apologize for or defend yourself or your thoughts, beliefs, preferences, decisions, choices, or dreams.
You are allowed to walk away from anything that no longer serves you (and perhaps never did). You don’t need to ask for permission.
Here’s what you will also learn.
You are responsible for learning from your mistakes, for not making excuses or playing the blame game. You are the only one responsible for your health and happiness. You are the only one who can face your own fears. You are the only one who can walk the walk. You are the only one who gets to.
Here are some of the most vital things you’ll ever learn.
You are not just a body or a face. (And you own both.)
You contain multitudes. You are expansive. You are too big and too great to be limited by someone else’s definition or perception of you (or by the things you tell yourself late at night and in your darkest hours).
You are both brilliant and intelligent. You have thoughts and ideas, and they will create change and make an impact. You will do big things, not in spite of your darkness but because of it.
You are not delicate. You are brave, fierce, mighty, relentless, resilient, and strong. You were made to climb literal mountains (and metaphorical ones, too).
And above all these things, here is the most important thing you’ll ever learn.
You have the right to be happy, to sing, to dance, to laugh, to breathe easy, and to be free.
Oh, and those fairytales, they got it all wrong. The story wasn’t about a white horse or a shadow mistaken for a man. There was no armor.
It was a woman standing on her own two feet, her face turned towards the sun and her head held high. A woman who chose to rewrite her own story and to become her own hero. Because she never needed saving.
So as the world watched (even though she could have cared less about an audience, let alone applause), she rescued herself, and lived gloriously, triumphantly, independently, self-sufficiently, happily ever after.
