Listen, my darling, because this is important:

you are not used up.

I know there’s that voice in that deep, dark place that feeds you nasty lies. You start to wonder how anyone could love you. Surely anyone who got close enough to see what you’ve done, what’s been done to you, could never love you. Your edges are jagged, so anyone who chooses to embrace you will only hurt themselves.

You’re unloveable, right? You’re used up, the world tells you.

Oh, my darling, please don’t believe that.

The world will hurl labels and judgments at you: loser, failure, incompetent. You can’t do anything right. That’s what the world wants you to think. But you are not a loser. You are not a failure, nor are you incompetent. Look back on your life and see all you have endured. Oh, my darling, you have endured.

I know that it feels like you have nothing left to give. But we praise the mosaic for being a thing of beauty despite its broken pieces. Surely you are the same. So give what you can: love, loyalty, passion, honesty.

I know you lie awake at night and wonder what you have to offer. You lie awake trapped in your tortured mind wondering what hope or love even are. But believe me, you are more than the past. You are more than what you’ve done. You’re more than what has been done to you. You are more than what they would have you believe you are.

Oh, my darling, I know you have struggled. I know how the world has taken pieces of you, torn your soul to shreds. I know you have fought like hell just to survive and I know you’re tired, but please don’t give up. Please don’t let the world take all your pieces. You are more.

You are not used up; you are only beginning. You are on a trajectory, a journey. We all are. Anyone who pretends to have all the answers is lying.

The world needs people like you.

The world needs you, specifically and importantly.

You are important, necessary, and most of all, altogether wonderful.