You Were Made to Shine

The sun is rising, and for the first time today, the house is quiet. But you know that silence well — it was the strategy you learned as a child to survive the storm of a parent's temper.

You made yourself small so you wouldn't be seen. You held your breath so you wouldn't be heard.

That little one is still inside you, waiting for permission to take up space. But look at the light filling the room right now.

It does not ask you to shrink. It does not demand you make yourself invisible to be safe.

There is light within a person of light, and it lights up the whole world. You were not made to hide.

You were made to shine. The child who had to disappear is gone, but the light that was always there remains — and it is finally safe to let it grow.