Your Story Matters (short article)

"There is no greater agony

than bearing an untold story inside you."
-- Maya Angelou

I don't know if I completely agree with that statement. There's a certain safety in holding your story, untold, inside you. You know it is there. No one can see it. No one can question it. It is yours and yours alone.

There are equal, or perhaps even GREATER agonies, I believe, than bearing an untold story inside you.

What if you finally find the courage to tell your story, but don't have the words to tell it?

What if you find the words to tell it, but have no one to tell it to?

What if you find someone to tell your story to, but your story is so different from THEIR story that they simply cannot comprehend it?

What if they can understand your story, but by the time you tell it, it doesn't really matter anymore?

The power doesn't come from finding the words to tell your story. The relief doesn't come from finding someone to tell your story to. The peace doesn't come from from having someone else understand your story. The freedom doesn't come from discovering that your story matters.

The power, the freedom, the relief, and the peace come from accepting your story just as it as and embracing it simply because it is YOURS.

It's not all that important that you have the words to tell it. It's not the end of the world if you cannot find anyone to tell it to. It's not even crucial that you find the right way to tell it. It is only icing on the cake if it is understood, and an added bonus if anyone but you feels that it actually matters.

The thing to remember is that it is YOUR STORY.
It is who you are, where you've been, and where you are going.

If you cannot find the words, draw a picture or play a song. If you cannot find anyone to tell it to, TELL YOURSELF so that you do not forget who you are. If you can't find the right way to tell it, tell it the wrong way. If nobody understands, tell it again.

And when you finally realize that you ARE your story, and your story is YOU, and that you're absolutely okay with that . . . that's when you'll know that YOUR STORY MATTERS.