Alive

Your success in life is not measured
by your accomplishments.

Your worth is not measured
by what others think of you.

Your intelligence, your income, your body, your age --
these things don't define you.

Only you can do that.

It doesn't matter
how many times you've fallen short,
how many scars you've accumulated,
how much you have yet to learn.

What matters is that you're alive,
that you're striving with the rest of us,
playing wrong notes with panache.

I pray that on those days
when you feel empty and alone,
you will lift your eyes to the sky
and keep your hope alive.