What Every Little Heart Needs to Hear

If I could gather every child in the world into one great big hug, there are a few things I would whisper. The kind of things that grow roots deep inside a person.

I would tell them this:

You are enough, just as you are.
Not when you’re quieter. Not when you’re better behaved. Not when you get it “right.” Right now. As you are.

I would tell them that their feelings are not too big. Sadness, worry, excitement, anger — all of it belongs. Every feeling is trying to tell a story. We just have to listen with gentle ears.

I would tell them that mistakes are not the end of the road, they’re the footprints that show us we’re learning.

Sometimes children worry that they must always be brave. I tell them bravery isn’t the absence of fear. It’s holding fear’s hand and walking anyway.

And I would tell them, again and again:

You are loved on your best days, and your messiest ones too.

If you’re reading this and carrying a heavy heart — little or big — these words belong to you just as much.

With all my love,
Yiayia 🌷