I recently met up with an old friend, one whom I haven’t seen in years. It’s been nearly a decade since we first became friends, quickly developing a bond that had been one of the most important things in my life. We hadn’t parted on the best of terms, so I was incredibly nervous. I knew that I had changed so much since the last time we’d spoken, and I was sure he had too. I was worried it would be a forced interaction between two very different people. Our re-acquaintanceship was fascinating. I noticed the way he pronounced certain words and phrases, the way he laughed, the way he carried himself, was all very familiar. A bit nostalgic, but more familiar because he did these things in a way I myself also did. I wondered if I had stolen these features from him and had subconsciously carried them all these years, or if he had originally stolen them from me.
It doesn’t matter. I realized that our bond had been so important to us at the time, that we had both adopted these traits as an expression of love that had impacted us so greatly. No matter what was currently happening in either of our lives, we had still helped to mold each other from that shared love.
Love is so much bigger than anyone can possibly imagine. It’s easy to understate our presence on Earth and believe that we are not meant to live out a great life, and are cursed to be sub-par. This is simply not true. Whether you’ve had 0 or 50 best friends in your life, your existence has impacted more people than you can possibly know. It’s easy to convince ourselves that we are not worthy if we’re not receiving perfect grades in school, if we don’t date the person we’re infatuated with, or if our family doesn’t always express their unconditional care for us, and it’s easy to compare ourselves to the people we think have all these things. But you are worthy. You are worthy of giving and receiving love in every form. You play an important part in others’ lives. If you’re wondering, people would most definitely miss you if you were gone. Continue on the path you’re on, and realize that even if you don’t become a CEO or discover what dark matter is, you are playing a very important role on Earth.
Written by Taryn Nowak-Stoppel