Decide to keep living.
Words fail.
Write anyway.
Despite your fears, despite your reservations and laziness, write anyway.
Sing anyway. Despite the cracks and the missed notes, sing anyway.
Share anyway. Despite whether you are afraid you might be misunderstood, or where you think you should be or what you think you should be doing instead, share anyway.
Love anyway. In spite of the hate and the ignorance you may be faced with, love anyway.
Shine anyway. In spite of the darkness, despite the clouds, shine anyway.
Live.
Live anyway.
Despite death, despite the feelings of loneliness, sadness, shock, pain, sorrow, all the negativity rolled into one…
Live anyway.
For it is in the depths of the sorrow and pain that we know we might climb out again.
It is at the bottom that we can imagine and look up to the top.
It is near the end that we remember the beginning and all that has happened between then and now.
And we decide to go on.
Not because we love ourselves again, or because we suddenly have everything all figured out, but because we realize that we matter, to someone, somewhere.
We realize we can make a difference, and even if we can’t, we can try.
Like Sisyphus, we may be condemned to forever rolling stones, but we can rock while we roll, we can sing, and we can laugh, and we can enjoy the path we are set on.
And we choose to go on.
Not because we have to, but because somebody, maybe many somebodies, love us.
Queen said it best, “Nothing really matters.”
And neither do we.
But at the same time, there only ever was and ever will be one you. There is only one chance to make the most of your time here, and that chance is now.
To those that stole away:
I didn’t know you.
