There can be a great amount of power in a single word.

Stay.

That’s a word that holds a huge amount of power.

A reminder to remain and continue.
A reminder that this is not the end.
A reminder to see tomorrow.
A reminder that here is a good enough place to be.

Stay.

Stay.

Today all I can say is 
stay. 

Stay. 

And I know that may not be easy to hear and this one word might bring fear, but stay. 

Stay for the sunsets and sunrises and surprises that do somersaults straight into your soul.

Stay for the sequels and prequels because you never know if Space Jam 2 will be a bust or beautiful.

Stay for the reunions and weddings and re-runs of Kings of Queens and Freaks and Geeks.

Stay for viral videos of animals doing only what we thought they could do in our dreams.

Stay to take another step with grace.

Stay to wake to another day that could be the best day.

Stay to shake the slumber of your sleeping self.

Stay for confetti cake, because confetti cake is good.

Stay. 

And I know.

I know, today is hard. 

And tomorrow might be too.

But move closer to see the beauty found within all that has come to be.

Let the light shine through all the cracks, scars, and questions. 

And stay. 

And I know there are days when the last thing you want to do is stay, but if you stay for today then i’ll see you tomorrow. 

And tomorrow is worth staying for.

And maybe tomorrow we can have some confetti cake.

.. .. ..

Every day is a battle.

I know anxiety has 8 legs and it crawls seeking to end.
I know depression has the strength of a hundred hurtful men.
I know regret can be a blinding pain and the screams of guilt are as deafening as they are silent.

And I know some days it’s tempting to leave this all behind.
To leave the pain and fear.
To step away from the mountains you are tired of climbing.

But your mountain is not meaningless.

What you are going through does not define or describe you.
Your mountain is an invitation to stay and climb.
And struggles like mountains were not made to be climbed alone.
And you were not made to climb alone.
We were made to climb together and so we will.
We were made to be together for each other.
We were made to stay.

Peace,

Tanner Olson
@writtentospeak

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