It is not wrong to love travel, or sundresses, or organic local apples.

Not wrong to spend the afternoon reading a book in the park, or pause midday to rest your eyes, or take the long way home just so you can see couples strolling along the riverbank.

Greece. By Taylor Smith

It is also not wrong to hurt.

Not wrong to cry out in pain, or finally admit the truth about its depths, or ask for help.

But I do think it’s wrong to tell yourself that you are not worthy of things that are “good,”

to feel ashamed or guilt because of your circumstances – your time, your finances, your skills and your struggles.

I think it is wrong to keep silent when you have something to say,
wrong to tell yourself that your feelings aren’t valid, that no one will understand, that you aren’t worthy of love, care, kindness.

To take the gift of life for granted, to waste or hoard or flaunt,
those things abuse your potential;
those things restrict your compassion;
those things say that where you are in this very moment is not enough.

But what if, in this moment, you paused and listened.
What if you listened to what you need, what your neighbor needs, what the birds need.
It might be something simple, small:
a hug, a hand, a sandwich, a conversation.

What if you chose to see each moment as an opportunity to love: to love yourself, to love your neighbor, to love the birds.

The Guardian

Because all of them deserve love, whether they have a $1,000,000 to their name, or not even one cent.

All of them were created with passions and purposes unique to them, songs that only they can sing, dances only they can dance.

Maybe for you, your Creator wired you with a love of adventure and the gift of embracing new people and cultures,

and the capacity to feel Joy when the sunlight hits your skin as you twirl around in colorful, flowing fabric.

He made you with the same things as the earth and delights when you choose to eat and share healthy, delicious food when it’s available, to hold a bunch of fresh-picked flowers and smell their precious fragrance, to walk on the dirt path and feel pebbles under your toes and heels.

For a heart of thankfulness in any circumstance is being a good steward of this one and only life.

So go see the world and enjoy it.

See the city streets with new fascination.
See the mountains, if you feel drawn to their splendor.
Marvel in both of these places, because they are both marvelous in their own right.

Go dress in color and dance instead of walking, if you want to.

Go bake something and share it with a friend. A stranger. Both.

Cry it all out. Sing it all out, too.

Taste and see that Creation is good,
that He is good,
that you are good.

Zion National Park