You matter. Yes, you.

You matter. 

Yes, you. You there reading this. 

I know, I know. It might sounds stupid for me to tell someone I don’t even know that they matter. 

How would I know, after all? 

That’s the thing: I don’t need to know you to tell you that you matter. 

Whether or not you matter isn’t dependent upon my, or anyone else’s considered judgment. 

I don’t need to know what you look like or what you’ve accomplished to tell you you matter. 

I don’t need to take time to think about it. 

You don’t need to prove it to me. 

You matter. 

What does THIS matter? 

Because many people who have experienced trauma get convinced that they don’t matter— or that they only matter conditionally. 

We get convinced that we only matter if we’re entertaining or attractive to someone. 

We get convinced that we only matter if the right people like us. 

We get convinced that, if we can’t convince specific other people that we matter, that maybe we DON’T really matter. 

It’s all BS (Belief Systems). 

Whether you matter is not subject to anyone’s approval. 

It’s not dependent upon the “right” people affirming that you matter. 

You certainly don’t matter just because I’m writing a blog telling you you matter. 

You matter because you are a human being who is alive and reading this. 

You matter because no one can take AWAY your right to dignity and safety. 

Other people, or events out there int he world, can very easily make us feel like we don’t matter. 

Hell, you will sometimes be TOLD, explicitly, that you don’t matter. 

It’s not true. 

You matter. 

No matter what “they” say. 

No matter what “they” did or didn’t do. 

No matter how many social media followers you have; no matter your net worth; no matter how  many consider you a friend. 

You matter irrespective of ANY of that. 

You deserve the chance to recover. 

You deserve the chance to breathe. 

You deserve to take up exactly the space you take up. 

You don’t have to earn it, and you can’t forfeit it. 

You matter— and not just because I say you do. 

I say you do because it’s true. 

You matter.