03/16/2025
Yes. This.
From a 70-Year-Old Woman to the Girl I Once Was…
If I could sit across from you now, child, I would take your hand in mine — these hands, knotted and worn with years you haven’t yet seen. I’d trace the lines on your palm and whisper what no one warned me about. Life will not always be kind. It will bruise you, batter you, and leave you gasping for air. People will leave, promises will break, and there will be moments when the weight of it all feels too much to carry.
But listen to me — don’t let bitterness take root in your heart. I know how tempting it is to harden yourself, to turn cold and unfeeling just to survive. But coldness is no armor — it’s a prison. Stay soft, even when softness feels like surrender. Stay tender, even when tenderness feels like weakness. Because it’s not. It’s the bravest thing you’ll ever do.
Let yourself hurt. Don’t rush past it, don’t shove it into a dark corner. Let the pain knock the wind from your lungs — but don’t let it build a home in your chest. Grief is a visitor, not a tenant. Let it in, let it teach you, and then let it leave.
You will be wronged. You will be wounded. People will fail you. But please — oh, please — don’t let that pain turn into a stone cold grudge. It will weigh you down in ways you can’t yet imagine. Forgiveness isn’t about saying what happened was okay — it’s about refusing to let it keep you prisoner.
And when you’re tired, when your bones ache from all you’ve carried — rise. Rise because you are stronger than you know. Rise because you’ve come too far to stop now. Rise because there’s still so much beauty waiting for you — beauty you can’t yet imagine.
You are never how someone makes you feel. Remember that. You are not their cruelty, their neglect, their betrayal. You are yours. You belong to God, and you are stronger than you think.
Let it hurt. Then let it heal. And when the time comes, rise.
With love,
From the woman who’s lived it — and knows you’ll survive it too.
-Brave Girl🦋