You Just Are

You are not a “depressed” person. Sometimes you feel depressed, and sometimes you are not. You just are.

You are not “smart.” In some areas, you have intelligence. In others, you do not. You just are.

You are not a “good” person. You act in ways that help others, and that help yourself. You also act in ways that hurt others, and hurt yourself. You just are.

I do think that labels can serve a purpose. There are some labels that are objectively true for you. You may be male or female. You may be a child, teenager, or adult. Your skin color could be various shades of white or brown. You may have been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, bipolar, or alcoholism. In a certain context, it may be helpful for others, and for yourself, to be aware of your age, your gender, your race, your cultural background. It can be helpful for you to understand your health struggles so that you can take educated steps towards well-being.

You also fit into roles. You may be a partner, a son, a daughter, a friend. Those can be helpful for you, and for others, to understand too. Your roles are defined in relation to others, and you can honor those roles. However, you are not a “good” partner, a “good” son, a “bad” friend. At times, you are all of these. You try your best to show up for your roles. Sometimes, you fill them in ways that are helpful to yourself and others. Sometimes, you don’t. You just are.

It is when these labels feel more important, or more right, than who we really are as humans, that can be hurtful to ourselves and others. If we are limited by labels, we are not connecting to ourselves in the most complete way. You are more than a female or male, a young person or old, a child, a friend. You are a person, a human being, a spiritual being, filled with loving awareness and universal energies.

What is most true is that we just are. You can learn to love yourself for your personhood, your being. You can love yourself for everything that you are, and nothing that you are. Love, in its full sense, does not judge or label, or exist when a certain behavior, personality trait, or label is there. The love is there because you are there.

When you can know your essence, your soul, and love it fully, you will find an existence that is honest. It will be peaceful, and it will be true. You just are you.