So, What’s it Gonna Take?

Love this life. Please.
Love it with all you can. Love this like it was your last hope and abandon all else that comes before you or gets in your way. Trust me or hear me.
Let this ring out like a plea from the bottom of my heart.
Risk everything. Risk it all. I swear.
Even if this means you will lose, or that you’ll lose it all.
Risk it anyway.

The hours can change and so can our fate.
The mood can change, and the weather can turn.
Anything can happen.
Anything at all.
So, please . . .
With all I have, I beg you.
Love this life.
Please.

Love this place with all you have. Dig deep, if you have to. But give this everything you have and leave nothing up to the judges.
Do this for me, please.
If at all possible, never leave something unsaid, and if you can manage, do whatever it takes to avoid the unforgettable regrets as best as you can.

This is you, right here. I hold what I have in the cup of my hands, clasped together and offered as if it were my last gulp of water to quench my everlasting thirst.
Speaking of thirst, please, I beg you.
Never lose your thirst for life.
Never.

Never let this go.
Never let your heart sink or allow your dreams to fade or be forgotten.
But even more, never let your truth become the lies that rule your life or cause you to drown in thin air or in the travesties that make other people quit

See the people you love. Look at them and see them for who they are.
Account for this. Account for yourself and your sins.
Forgive everything that transpired before this moment because this moment is far more precious than we think. There is a new sun about to rise.
Trust me.

Look at the love in your heart.
See the people in your life and notice those who you value the most.
Look deep within your heart and be true to this.
Love with all you have.
Look at the person whom you call the “love of your life.”
Feel them. Feel all they offer you and appreciate every second because seconds have a way of disappearing and while the clocks keep ticking, life is not always living.
So please, value your life while you are still alive and well. By all means, always be young at heart.
Enjoy your life.
Enjoy every minute.
Enjoy all that allows you to smile because, yes, the moment is later than we think and time is far more fleeting than we realize.

Be loyal to this.
Be loyal to your life and to the truth of your soul.
Be loyal to your dreams and the goals you look to achieve.
These are yours.
These things belong to you.
Let no one stop you or take you away from this.

Find your passion. Find your soul and your purpose and let this light you on fire.
And don’t worry about the ashes. The wind blows well enough to carry them away.
Let this be the fuel to your fire.
Let this be your journey.
Let this be the starting point and let this trigger your launch and yes, please, by all means.
Let this be the sign that erases your fears and makes it safe to dare the line, no matter what’s at stake.

Be happy.
Be good.
Be you.

Find the time to make sure you notice the most beautiful things around you.
See the beach. See the mountains.
Look up and see the stars or notice the rainbows after the storm.
All of this was put here for you.

Find your soulmate. And if you already have, then be mindful of this.
Know them. Love them.
Let them know exactly who they are to you.
Never allow this to be unsaid or unheard.
Let them know what they mean to you.
Show them your heart. Show them your soul.
Show them your body too.
In fact, show them everything you can because this person was invented and created for you.
Do not be afraid of this.
Be vulnerable.
Be all that you want them to see and more, show them that the reflection in your eyes is a mirror of how they make you feel.

Do not waste this gift on insecure thoughts or biased worries that you are not worthy or undeserving of them or their love. Trust me.
Soulmates are placed here for a reason.
Be their reason.
Be their response.
Be the reason someone chooses to get up and get out of bed in the morning.
Inspire them
Love them
Show them how your life is a better place and the world is a greater world simply because they exist.

Be loyal to this.
Be brave enough to let yourself sink into your love the same as the afternoon sun will sink into the palm of a welcomed horizon.
Be like the moon. Be full.
Be bold and be true.
Be this. Please.
I beg you.
Be like the bluish light that comes from the moonbeams that creeks through the window shades of a bedroom and caresses the sheets where the body of your love will lay and sleep.

Inhale this and never forget the scent or the essence of your love.
This is your person. This is a smell that will comfort you.
This is the scent of your dreams and your passion.
Keep this with you and keep this special.
Care for this because a day can come and you will find that you might be in the absence of them, or foolishly, some might take this for granted and then, one day, they find themselves alone or unwanted, and all that’s left is a wish or a prayer to hold them once more.
Just one more time.
But life slipped by and the window for that opportunity closed.

Dead, gone. Or buried.

Be loyal to the fact that this is life, and that this is your life.
If you should choose to be brave enough or daring enough to live it this way, then live this way with all of your heart.
Please.
Hold this idea and care for this with all the strength it takes to make this so.

Be as true to this as your lungs are loyal and true to the air you breathe.
See your life this way because this is more than the breath in your lungs.
See this, right here?
This is the blood in your veins.
All of these things are the factors that cause your heart to beat and create your pulse which keeps you alive.

Please. . .
Let me ask you this.
What are the bravest things you have ever said or done?
What are the bravest things you have ever seen anyone do?
Better yet, what have you seen in this life and wished this was you or that you were brave enough to do this yourself?

Think about the words, “I love you.”
What do they mean?
Think about your fears and the shadows and the imperfect cracks or the flaws in our soul, which we consider, and then I want you to think about how we assume this is the only part of us that people see.

Think about the bravery it takes to get up each morning.
Think about what it takes to face the day ahead of you.
Think about the years that have gone by and think about the fact that no matter what’s on its way, or no matter how tired you are, no matter how it’s hurt you, you still showed up.
Think about how much strength it takes to keep going.
Or what’s better, think about the fact that even when you swear that you have nothing left, somehow, you are still here, and you still manage to show up.

This is not about pass or fail, good or bad.
This is about the fact that even when you wanted to quit, you never did.
Need proof?
Touch the pulse on your wrist.
Know what that is?
This is the proof that shows you’re alive.

Think about the bravery it takes to ask for help.
Or wait.
No.
Think about the bravery and the patience it takes to accept someone’s help.

Think about the humility.
Think about the modest nature of this and despite the oddness or the uncomfortable part of feeling vulnerable, think about the first few steps you took when you swore that you couldn’t take one.
Think about the steps it took to make the greatest change.
Come to think of it, what is the bravest change you dared to take?

Think about the art of stepping away because it was necessary.
Talk to me about declaring your right to be free and what it took to change your path or change your mind so you could change your direction.
Think about the rebirth of life that comes when, finally, the heart and soul of your labor produce the fruit from the vines.

What does your heart tell you?
Where does your soul want to be?
Who do you want to be in this life?
What does this look like?
But above all and more importantly, what has to happen to make this so?
Who do you want to share this with?

The words “I love you,” are as brave as they come.
Love is brave because when said from the heart and when this is said truthfully and wholeheartedly, loving someone without a guarantee of its return is the bravest emotion of all.

I am not fit to preach nor have I come to offer a sermon.
I have no right to speak from a podium.
No, not me.
Not at all.
I am nothing more than a timid soul.
I am sad too.
I am weak and tired, and hurt, heartbroken, and aware of the lonesome melancholy which comes after all goes wrong and love like this is gone or vanished.

I have made a run for things.
But I lost my way.
I cheated. I lied.
I covered myself and tried to hide my cracks,
and I tried to wear the halo, but my horns kept knocking it off.

I lost my truth (or truths) which are the only real aspects of my life, which are the facts that I am small, and I am worried that I will always be seen as weak or puny.
Damn the punishment from within for nothing else is more hell-worthy than the devils in our heart who look to poison or destroy the soul (and keep us apart).

I am afraid of the touch and afraid to experience the joys of life because of the bonds I have with old trauma.
I have always wanted to be that boy.
I have always wanted to be invited to play and chosen to join.
I have always wanted to share what I have and bring my toys without the insecurity that what I have is inferior or simply “not good enough.”

Even now, more than five decades have passed and I still wish I was free enough to be a kid.
More than five decades have come and gone and still, I wonder the question, “What have I done?”
Have I done anything?
Have I done anything worthy?

Have I dared to show my truth?
Am I brave enough to ask for help?

If so, or if the help comes, am I brave enough to shed the weight of my fragile ego?
Am I strong enough to show my weakness and allow humility to make me stronger?
Are you?
Will I give myself the permission to surrender to this process and allow my modesty to make me beautiful?
That is, of course, if beauty is possible for someone like me.

There is no question that life can be tough and the days will be hard.
There are no questions about pain.
There are no doubts about heartache.
Both of these are plentiful.
There will always be storms. There will always be darkness.
But nothing is so dark that light cannot come, or like the genesis or the creation of us, or the light of birth, morning comes each day to remind us that today is another chance to get up and face the day again.

I know about the chains that weigh us down.
I know about the ugliness of the crowd or the fears that come when all we see are the imperfections of our own reflection.

I know this all too well.
But if I may ask something of you, then let me beg you for this.
Please.
Love this life.
Love this life with all you can and with all of your heart and with all of your soul.
Love yourself.
Love your life, despite the trials or the unwanted and unrequested problems, and realize that nothing about you could ever be replaced.
There is nothing wrong with you.
Nothing at all.

Who are you?
Think about the divisions and the different characters of your spirit. Think about the child within. Think about the divisions of your lost soul or the person within who wants to be heard or valid and justified.
Think about the so-called unlovable secrets that make you flinch or fear and pull away from the touch.
Think about the stains and the invisible scars that lead you to believe that you are hideous to the world or underserving of love.

Think about the absence of light or why you find comfort in the blindness of the dark, which is only to prove that we close our eyes because we are too tired of what we see.

Relax with me.
Please.
I am tired too.
But you and I?
You and I have a life to live, dreams to achieve, and a mission to accomplish.

Love this life with me.
Take my hand, if you need to.
Or hold my hand because I might need you.

Walk with me and let us learn to love together because behold, the sun is about to rise, the morning will be here soon, and to be honest, I don’t know if I’ll ever have this chance to be with you again because, of course, the hour is always later than we think.

And “now” is all I have to offer.