Because your life has value, whether or not you can see it,
because it was not your fault,
because you didn’t choose to be battered and used,
because life itself is precious, because they were and are wrong,
because you are connected to each and every other abuse survivor,
and so your daily battle automatically give others hope and strength.
Because you will feel better, eventually,
because each time you confront despair you get
stronger, and you can’t know now what you will
ultimately be able to do with this new morsel of
strength, what future battles you will be able to win,
because if you die today you will never again feel
love for another human being, or trust, or gratitude;
because you will never again see kindness and
compassion in another’s eyes.
Because if you die today you will never again see
sunlight pouring through the leaves of a tree, or a
bird take flight, or feel the quality of light in winter,
because the seconds do not cease their passing,
because even if it feels like time has become an
unbearably heavy stone, it has not, and you only have to endure,
because you have already won...
you have known the cleverness and resiliency and
courage and stubborn will to make it this far, and no one can take that away,
because the will to live is not a cruel punishment,
even if it feels like that at times: it is a priceless gift.
Because your inner children need you, they have no one
else and their need is so great, and because
they deserve more than anyone to be healed and
comforted; they are true heroes against impossible odds.
Because you owe your inner children, they are the
reason you are here. If you die today you will erase
the meaning of their suffering and incredible
endurance, and that is too great a loss,
because you already have the skills to find your
healing path; you have proven this over and over again,
because we need more warriors against this evil,
because we need survivors to offer testament against
this horror and despair,
because no one knows better than you the meaning of
suffering, and agony deepens the heart,
because you deserve the peace that will come after
this battle is won, and it will be won, but only
minute by minute... we must learn to let go of the unconquerable,
because we can all come together in later years to
laugh in their faces; because we will be able to show
them that even though they had all the power and
strength and ruthless cunning, even though we were
only helpless, innocent, dependent children,
we will have beaten them at the game
they so smugly thought they had mastered,
because I am furious that we have to suffer the pain
of another’s evil and filth,
because you too will one day feel fury,
because it is critical that you survive.
