We often forget how far we've come. If you are over the age of an infant, as you clearly are, you deserve a "congratulations" for having made it this far. Allow me to remind you of a few reasons why you're awesome, and why no one can take your awesomeness away from you. It has permanently crossed over into the realm of irreversible.
1. Your Existence Alone Is a One-of-a-Kind Miracle.
The simple fact that you exist is nothing shy of a miracle, so please do not discount it. How fascinating is it that your parents came together at the specific moment in history to create the life form that is you? Everything that you are is a unique expression of life, and you posses the relevance of having been given breath. Your specific genetic makeup, talents, skills, experiences, opinions, preferences, history and idiosyncrasies are unmatched.
There are currently over seven billion people inhabiting this planet, but not a single one of them is exactly like you. Not a single one of them can offer your specific perspective.
Steep on that for a moment. Stop considering, even for a second, that you are irrelevant. You're awesome.
2. You Survived the Realm of Awkwardness Known As Childhood and Adolescence.
Anyone who successfully crosses over into the dark side of puberty deserves a medal. By all means, applaud yourself. Once I thought I'd never survive middle school gym class. It once seemed an impossibility, for merely approaching the doors to the locker room provoked an onset of stomach cramps. Flirting with boys and entertaining my classmates were always my activities of choice.
I was the perpetually feminine girl who pretended to attempt to strike the volleyball but never actually dared to. I'd like to believe I was a fabulous Oscar-worthy actress at simulating disappointment for every unsuccessful "effort", however such is doubtful.
I was always giggling, hair-flipping, hip-swinging and dancing my way through every phony motion, merely pretending to be engaged in the game until I was permitted to rejoin my friends on the bleachers and appear to be unfazed.
Anyway, I survived my version of a semi-nightmare. So did you. Congratulations.
3. Your Brain's Potential Has Already Proven to Be Astounding.
You're reading this. When your life was new, you had not even a concept of language. However, in this moment, you are likely reading my words without much conscious thought or effort. It likely feels as simple and fluent as taking your first stretch in the morning or mindlessly pouring yourself a cup of coffee upon staggering from your bed. In fact, you may even be getting a little bored.
Consider that every man who has grown up to become a CEO of a major corporation, every man who has ever led a nation, every brilliant innovator and every great inventor since the beginning of time was once just a helpless baby, reliant on another to clothe him and change his diaper.
Each of us began our lives with a blank slate, absent of the ability to make a simple decision. It is quite astounding when you think about it. Consider all you have learned in your life, and then begin to consider what more you can do with the use of your brain.
Brain plasticity, which is the capacity of the brain to change when learning something new, continues throughout our lives. For example, when a person learns a new language, even well into adulthood, changes can be observed in the structure of the person's brain. It is fascinating and empowering when you consider how much potential we have to improve ourselves. What else do you dare to learn and achieve?
This may seem to you to be a ridiculous and moot point, but consider something you long to attempt that you have not yet mustered the courage or discipline to try. Your having learned to read, to drive and perhaps to swim are all testaments of your brain's ability to turn an overwhelming feat into second nature.
The only limitations you possess are the ones you declare upon yourself, for your ability to read my words is concrete evidence of your greatness. High-five yourself.
4. You've Surprised Yourself With Your Own Resilience.
Perhaps you've had your heart broken, possibly more than once, yet you survived. You've likely experienced enough diarrhea-inducing embarrassments to write an entire season's worth of Saturday Night Live skits. Perhaps you've shivered in the coldest, darkest dungeons of loneliness. Still, you've recovered, time and again, after countless unexpected disappointments.
Perhaps there was something you once believed you would never "get over", however you now glance downward at the event's ever-fading scar with an air of pride and borderline mockery.
Everyone's story, regardless of how short, has at least one chapter of stormy misfortune. Your story is no exception, nor is your resilience. Perhaps you learned to enjoy the warmth of the sun on your face once again, to love again or to try again. Your heart did not stop, nor did it explode into a million fragments outside of your chest.
You did not choke on your own feelings of humiliation, nor did you suffocate from your sorrow. You did not drown in your tears. You did not physically die in a bed of brokenness or "could have been". You were not destined to hide your face in shame forever. You did not wreck your train. You're still here. Good job, little fighter.
5. You Now Independently Rule An Empire.
Once you were delicate and helpless. Once you were entirely dependent upon someone else for every aspect of your survival. However, now, you alone are the captain of your ship, the driver of your bus and the pilot of your craft. You are the director of your movie and the architect of a boundless structure.
Whether you realize or not, you have been the supreme ruler of the vast and limitless empire that is your life. You can call upon divine guidance for assistance with an unwavering faith, or you are free to hopelessly cower in a ditch. You can trust in the forces of nature, or you can believe they are out to destroy your reign. No one is allowed to decide for you.
Oh, the options you possess, the lives you can touch and the stories you can write. You alone decide how history will tell the story of your dynasty.
Make it awesome.
This article was originally published on The Daily Doll.
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