Even here, your presence matters

“Am I even needed here?”

It’s a difficult question that comes from a daunting feeling when you are wondering if your presence matters. I do not know the ins and outs of your day-to-day, but I do know that no matter what happens, no one sees the world just like you. No one can bring your presence, but you. There’s a way you show love that is different than how others show love. There’s a way you bring value, even when others seem to overlook you.

I am so sorry if anyone has ever made you feel like your presence didn’t matter, but I promise you: beneath the layers, you have impacted more people than you realize. But the challenge is: this is not usually quantifiable. In life, we are often made to think that the certainty of what something is worth is in numbers. The amount of money and resources you have determines where you live, how you live, where you work, how much you work, how much you rest, and the list goes on and on.


However the most valuable things in life go beyond numbers. You cannot explain Love on paper. You cannot put every practical example of Grace on a spreadsheet. Love is endless. Grace is boundless. They go beyond all of the things the human mind wants so badly to put into a box we feel like we can control.

Your presence is a gift. No, the world would not be the same without you. You matter here. Just like every seed sown into the earth has its place, so do you. You belong here. Even when it’s hard to fully comprehend how, in real-time, keep listening to music, writing letters, and taking ten minutes in the morning to remind yourself: you presence matters in this world just as much as anyone else. No matter how others see you or how you see yourself.

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Originally written some time in 2021