You Are Worthy

I’ve decided that Dolphin Tale is now one of my favorite movies, ever.

I watched it for the first time a couple years ago, and felt inspired to re-watch it last week. It makes me cry in all the best ways, and dolphins in general just bring me so much joy!

I love re-watching movies from time to time to see what new lessons or insights pop out at me.  There have been so many serendipitous movie experiences for me in the past, that I couldn’t wait to see what this one had in store for me.

And as I was watching Dolphin Tale this time around, I was not disappointed.

At one point, the character played by Morgan Freeman, tells a young man in the military who’d just returned home with some serious injuries, “Just because you’re hurt, doesn’t mean you’re broken.”

I literally jumped up to grab my journal and a pen so I could write it down.

So often there are things that happen in our lives — we get sick, we lose loved ones, we find ourselves with broken hearts or twisted knees…

And it can be easy to think there’s something wrong with us. That because we’re hurt, there’s something to fix.

And while there is, of course, a place for healing and tending our wounds, both physical and emotional; there is nothing that can take away from our inherent worth as a human being.

Your worth does not come from what you can do for other people.

Your worth doesn’t come from the work you do, or how well you live up to other people’s expectations for your life.

You are worthy because you are you.

No matter how you feel. No matter what challenges you face. No matter much or how little you may be hurting right now, You Are Worthy.

I’ve spent a certain amount of time working through a lot of these fears and beliefs because of the injury and chronic illness I’ve dealt with over the years.

I had to learn very quickly that my worth did not come from what I do, but from who I am.

Homebound and away from the roles I was used to playing, as a teacher, community member, family member and friend, it was hard to come to terms with the way everything had shifted.

Maybe you’re feeling some of this now, with all of the ways things are continuously shifting in our world — faster, and faster, like a spinning globe.

And if you can’t find that center — that arm that holds the globe up, you can get QUITE dizzy trying to follow along with all of the chaos & crazy energy spinning around.

I doubt life will ever stop giving us opportunities to listen to the small voice within, to find our center, to look Heavenward and to bring the light of truth and greater understanding to our lives and to those around us, just by simply being ourselves.

We’re not meant to live under heaps of rubble. We’re not designed to carry the burdens of others as if they’re our own. We’re meant to walk side-by-side, and tend to our own healing.

At the end of my life, I won’t be asked how I lived up to other people’s expectations or judgments about my life…

I’ll be asked if I lived up to MINE. If I was able to accomplished the mission my soul was meant to fulfill.

And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to arrive in that moment and find that I passed by soul-inspired adventures and ways to be of service and make a difference in the world, in order to try to live up to someone else’s idea of what my life should be.

We have the opportunity to transcend suffering; and learn and grow, from every challenge, illness, struggle, and from every bit of pain that ever comes our way.

And somehow, finding the good, and turning towards healing in those toughest moments, only to find them transformed into new possibilities and a brighter future ahead — well, it just never gets old.

What if we measured our progress as humans, not by the things we gain, accomplish, or lose, but by the people we become, and the growth we develop along the way?

What if we’re all, each of us, already spectacularly and wonderfully enough?

What if we all KNEW that with every cell in our bodies and with the oxygen that fills each life-giving breath?

Wouldn’t the world be beautiful?!

I have a hunch we’d find infinitely more solutions, have greater creativity and better relationships, and more meaningful art in the world, if everyone believed in the power of the gifts they came to bring to the planet — and to share with all of us.

We are all here together. So when one person rises up above the limitations that once restrained them, or breaks the chains that once held them down, it creates an opening, a beautiful doorway filled with light and hope, peace and joy, that invites the rest of us to do the same.

So the next time you find yourself hurting — whether from a broken heart or a broken leg, remember that you are worthy.

You are worthy of healing. You are worthy of grace.

You are worthy of compassion, and courage, and the love and understanding of those around you.

And when you see someone around you who is limited in some way, remember that just because their life might not look the same as yours, or their physical abilities don’t match your own…they are worthy too.

And who knows, they just might have discovered something wonderful in their experience that could help your path blossom with greater wonder, freedom, and joy, too!

Each of us is unique and we’ve all had the opportunity to learn to transform suffering in our own unique ways.

I dream of a world where we are able to learn from each other, grow with one another, and celebrate with courage and bravery, and a sparkling toast that says…

Yes, we are all worthy! Each of us unique, each with a special gift, perspective and beautiful energy to bring!

You are enough, dearest one. Take a deep breath, exhale, and feel how worthy you are, right this minute — just because you exist.

I love you, and am cheering for you in every way.

November 3, 2021