You do not have to understand everything straight away. Sometimes it is enough to pause with your own experience.
While abroad, I went out alone for a morning walk. I was not doing well; a difficult relationship had left me sad. I leaned against a railing, staring out to sea and thinking about my life.
A woman who seemed American came over, touched my shoulder and asked whether I was all right. It was a brief moment, but it lifted my spirits for the rest of the trip.
This is how it felt: extraordinary that a complete stranger saw the sadness in me. A complete stranger cared, and showed it.
Gradually, I understood something important. I was startled to be visible, to be noticed at all. I realised the picture I had begun to believe about myself was wrong. I exist. I have value. I am worth seeing.
To you, perhaps walking a similar road right now: I would like to do what that woman, whose name I never learned, did for me — show that I care.
My story may not have been finished in that moment. But I kept moving forward — as myself, a little kinder to myself.
— Gunilla