“I just want to be me!” My baby sister stood in our den at the ripe old age of three, hands on her hips, and shouted this to my mom at the top of her lungs, and at forty six she is still shouting this.

She is who she is. And, I love her!

Isn’t that what we all want? Aren’t we all just trying to figure out who we are?

Some of us feel like a mouse in a trap, others like queens we can no longer be, still others perform to perfection and are left empty like a hollowed out shell. Some of our hearts are near broken, some are too easily offended, others have hopes and dreams and no wind will blow them off course.

You are you. Wherever you are. Be proud of every inch of you, of all that makes you, you. You are the sum of all of your amazing traits, your experiences, and beliefs. Promise now to look beyond the next bend in the road, cast your eyes around and embrace the coming day, no matter what that day may bring.

Are we asleep like the drowsy dragon of myth and story only to be enraged when we are awakened? Are we deceived by treasures and baubles and falsehoods that say once in our hand we will be happy…content.

Live with intention, with purpose. Yes, by all means have ambition, but do not fall into the abyss and become stuck in the quagmire of your own pride. Offer the world your talents. There may be great routs, hard battles, dark nights, but hope begins in the dark, and by struggling the caterpillar becomes the butterfly.

You are you because of everything you have lived. And we need you.