Rest When the Smile Fades
The mask of gratitude feels heavy by mid-morning, a performance you maintain because you are terrified that if you stop smiling, the love will leave. You think your worth is tied to how much you can give, how much you can endure without complaining.
But there is a voice that speaks to the quiet ache behind your eyes, asking not for your performance but for your rest. What if the kindness you fear losing was never dependent on your ability to earn it?
The light does not vanish when the smile fades. It was there before you learned to perform, and it remains now, steady and unmoving, while you catch your breath.
Drawing from
Gospel of Thomas, 1 John
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