My colleague recently told me …
“I believe you were weird when you were a child… in a good sense.”

True that.
I was always different.

Happy little puppy, same time highly empathetic … feeling too deeply, feeling things that were unspoken, feeling pain that wasn’t mine.
Not understanding why people would do this or that … why they would say this or that … especially when it would hurt somebody else.
Following my heart and intuition rather than what would be considered logic …

There was a day I still remember so vividly. I was maybe around 10 years old. I felt heavy … because the world felt heavy.

I sat myself down in my room at the desk and had an honest talk with myself in my head …
I acknowledged that I felt different, more sensitive, empathetic, deep …

I can’t do shallow. I was born like this.
It won’t go away. Others are not like that.
I accepted this fact.

So now I had 2 options …
You can either stay the way you are … and be in pain because the way the world is hurts you.
Or you can become like them. Fit in and tag along. Somehow.

But truth was … I never really had an option.
Not me.

I didn’t like what I saw.
I didn’t like the world out there like this.
And I didn’t want to contribute to a world like this.
I certainly didn’t want to be like that.

I was happy with the way I was.
I actually wished more people would be more caring and empathetic, not superficial …

So the decision I took … and the words I used back then to myself were …
“I will be the example of what I wish people would be more like.
Maybe somebody can learn from me.”

It was never in the sense that I thought I was better than others.
I have never felt like this.
Just … different.

Everyone has their place in the world … in their very own and unique way.
Everyone contributes to the bigger picture.
No one is better than another.
Everyone should be focused on their role in the world … not others …
so that they become worth the title of human being.

I tried to live my life staying true to my promise back then.
And I believe I did … to a certain degree.

But I won’t lie … it did bring a lot of pain,
and it didn’t always go perfect.
Where there is light, there is darkness.
People taking advantage …
people wanting to steal what they don’t have …
trying to make you small …
because they can’t deal with the mirror you are holding up into their face.

But then there are also the others …
that you heal by your mere presence.
Because they are like you in some way.
And they are now given permission to be who they are.
Because they see the living example.

How many children and grown-ups … after sometimes just one talk …
give me hugs and tell me they love me …
because they finally feel like they see who they really are and have been given validation for who they are.

Not just validation, but encouragement.
The fear being taken away.

And the beautiful part is …
I’m not doing anything.
I’m just naturally being myself.

Your mere existence can change people’s trajectory of life.
By being the example they never had.

If you are someone who is a good listener …
people who have never been heard will find you.

If you are someone who sees beneath the surface …
people who have been misunderstood their whole life will recognise you instantly.

If you are gentle in a harsh world …
people who are exhausted from fighting will rest in your presence.

If you are good at giving structure …
people whose world feels chaotic will finally be able to breathe around you.

If you naturally see patterns others miss …
people who feel confused will feel clearer without knowing why.

If you feel things deeply …
people who have buried their emotions will finally feel allowed to open the door.

If you have always felt “different” …
others who felt the same will find you without needing labels
and will finally feel normal next to you.

If you are meant to guide …
those who are lost will cross your path.

If you are meant to protect the vulnerable …
they will gravitate toward you.

If you bring predictability and clarity …
people who are always on alert will feel grounded.

If you explain things step by step …
people who have always felt “lost” will finally feel capable.

If you communicate directly and honestly …
people who are overwhelmed by hidden meanings will finally feel safe with you.

If you were called “weird” but meant “authentic” …
people who never fit will finally feel they belong.

Everyone has their own specialty in their very own way.
We are not meant to be everything for everyone.
We are meant to be something real for someone.

So it’s really paradox for me that we are often trying to fit in with others,
copying others,
trying to be like them or be accepted by them.

If you communicate directly and honestly …
you should be around people who value this.

But you are not.
You try to fit in with people who don’t,
who will say that you are being too blunt, arrogant, impolite, …
who will make you feel smaller than you are.
And little by little you adapt to them.
Your gifts get wasted.

And you attract the wrong kind of people …
the ones that are not for you,
but for somebody else whose communication style is more indirect
and maybe more diplomatic.

Which again is not the way you like.

And then we wonder why we are surrounded by people
that don’t bring us peace and drain all your energy.

Logically, we should be true to what we are best at.
And the people that need us will find us.
And the people we need will find us.

The universe will never give you peace
in something you were never meant to settle in.

A while ago a friend sent me this message after we went out for a coffee …
With the message she sent a picture of a cup
that was broken but fixed with gold.

“Yesterday I really felt like God has been healing you with gold,
like these cracks, and He is shining through them in your life.”

She was referring to the Japanese philosophy of Kintsugi.
In Japan, broken objects are often repaired with gold.

The “flaw” is seen as a unique piece of the object’s history,
which becomes part of the beauty, not something to hide.

Every day I see children going the wrong way …
when I talk to them, they cry
and say it’s the first time they feel understood.
And they think with hope. Not despair.

I see adults who have taken the wrong turn,
hurting so much inside …
cry …
then feel hope.

Hope turns into light.
It turns into permission to try again.
And trying again is how lives change.

Hope gives courage to breathe again.
And once you breathe … you are alive again.

Hope gives people a reason to believe
that their story isn’t over yet.
And when they believe that …
everything becomes possible again.

Hope gives the mind a reason to soften
and the heart a reason to stay.

From there, change becomes not only possible …
but inevitable.

Hope gives quiet strength.

We may think we are afraid of failing
the people we love or care about …
but what it really is about
is the fear of withholding what we were born to give.

Because truth is …
we can’t fail.

Not by being imperfect.
Not by getting tired.
Not by doubting.
Not by being human.

We can only fail
by denying them access to our light
that the darkness so well protected.

We can only fail
by disappearing,
dimming our light,
or adapting ourselves into something safer …
but false.

Your real self is beautiful and enough.

Life is a paradox.
In order to heal, you must hurt.
In order to love, you must break open.
And in order to have peace, you must face chaos.

Never regret any experience in your life,
because it is always meant to bring you balance.

And when you integrate the pain into meaning …
the light always follows.

And light naturally transforms
everything it touches.