I am realizing, more now than ever, that much of the reason I am doing so well is because someone else chose me.

Someone else chose me to be able to take time to heal.

Someone else chose me to be able to step away from the busyness.

Someone else chose me above themselves.

I now have two obligations as I have been given this opportunity. I must choose other people that need to have a place to heal and I must continue to heal. My continued healing does not seem unattainable. Intentionally choosing others is going to be more of a habit than a one time deal.

I am going to have to be intentional about seeing the people who are sitting aside and not speaking. The people who are on the sidelines. Maybe they are “in” and “committed” but they aren’t voicing their opinion. They are just riding along, coasting with everyone else.

Maybe they are hurt like I was and they need someone to choose them as important enough.

I don’t know their situation. I only know it is just as much my responsibility to choose them now. Now is a time where get to watch and learn how to choose people who have something to say and I need to choose them to be available to be heard.

Sometimes I’ll have to watch for someone who hasn’t contributed to the conversation in a while who seems disjointed and aloof. It could also look like me spending more time with people who have been marginalized and pushed to the fringe and don’t believe that they should have a voice.

Either way, I genuinely believe that I will find more healing and growth as I continue to focus on others’ voices as well as my own.

Who around you does not use their voice? What can you do to bring them a voice?

Choosing,

–JT