A Beautiful Life

I love my story,
I love my life
with its hassles and hardships
and joy and laughter.
I love my ADHD driven forgetfulness.
I love my social awkwardness.
For these are the reasons my words have weight.
If it were not for the struggles and strife in my life,
my words would sound hollow and insincere.
They would have no resonance,
and would feel disingenuous.
No one with a hard life
wants to hear advice
from someone who
has coasted through with ease.

My trials and tribulations
have colored the way I see reality;
the beauty in the world around me
seems magnified
as does the pain of the world.

It seems to me
that other kindred spirits see
from where my uplifting words
have arisen,
that my words have burgeoned,
have sprouted
out of muck
like the lotus blossoms.
And I have reason to believe
that fellow kindred spirits recognize me;
meaning they can see
that I do not take their pain lightly,
that I am not claiming
that the nursing of our
festering wounds
is easy.
For the lesions tend to
sting and chafe and ooze
before they become benign aches.

I am grateful for my suffering
for those moments have caused me
to seek my inner voice of wisdom.
I am grateful for my idiosyncrasies
for they have made me beautifully
and undeniably human.
I am grateful for my heartache
for it has expanded my capacity
to give love, to show patience
and express compassion.
I am grateful for my inability
to masquerade as someone else,
for it has led me to the truest
and deepest friendships.
I am grateful for all that life has given me,
the good, the bad, and the ugly,
for I was able to allow
the exquisite elegance of nature
to draw me out of the chaos,
to show me the beauty in all things.

My past pain is beautiful
for I can still laugh with delight.
My past hardships are beautiful
for I can still find bliss.
The entirety of my past is beautiful
for I have chronicled a journey
that reverberates with loving, healing
blessed assurance, and peace.