At the end of the day, I just want to be proud of the person I have become. I want to be proud of the way I loved. I want to be proud of the way I chose vulnerability and tenderness; how I never stopped choosing them no matter what my soul experienced. I want to be proud of the way I fought for others, of the way I dedicated myself to making them feel seen and understood; I want to be proud of the way I tried my best to speak beauty into the parts of them that no one else clapped for. At the end of the day, I want to be proud of the way I cared. At the end of the day, I want to be proud of the way I fought to be here. I want to be proud of the way I worked through my dark, I want to be proud of the way I healed even when it hurt. I want to be proud of the way I tucked hope into myself for safekeeping, I want to be proud of the way I believed that there was more to experience at the hands of life, that the beauty I had yet to feel existed in this world. At the end of the day, I want to be proud of the way I survived. At the end of the day, I want to be proud of the way I showed up. Of the way I existed here, of the way I dedicated myself to living the kind of life that allowed for happiness, and sadness, and growth to flow through me like rain. I want to be proud of the way I fell in love with a version of hope that I created from the deepest parts of my soul. I want to be proud of the fact that I never let my past convince me that I did not deserve the potential the future was holding for me. I want to be proud of the way I moved in the direction of love. At the end of the day, I want to be proud of the way I risked my soul, I want to be proud of the way I honored it. At the end of the day — I want to leave this world with a heart that is worn-out and tender all over, a heart that aches from loving, and feeling, and caring in the best way possible. I want to leave this world knowing that I poured love into everything I did, that I crashed my soul into each day, that I tried for something while I was here. At the end of the day, I just want to be proud of the person I have become. I just want to be proud of the way I connected. 🤍