The Stats

I shared some statistics with a few friends the other day. And now I'm going to share them with you. Because, that's just what I do. I have these thoughts that simmer around and around in my head. So, I write them out. Once they're physically on a page, they take on a life of their own. I don't know why it works that way. It just does.

Here are the statistics: Every day there are about 300 billion emails sent and each person sends about 88 text messages. Did you catch that? Billion. And if you have a teenager living under your roof, you know they hit the 88 text mark within 15 minutes of being awake.

That's a lot of data. Technology at it's finest. But here's the message I read that followed those statistics: "Try to think of this (your cell phone) not just as a communication tool or a music player, but as a tool to build up another's soul." (You can read the complete devotional here.)

I'm a words person. I breathe them in and write them out. I read them. I see them everywhere I look. But, how often do I/we use our words to lift another? How often do we take for granted what we send out to the world? Just think of what we could do if we took just one text and one email a day to add joy to someone's soul. That thought feels rather life changing. In a global kind of way.

So, let me say this: You are good. You are brave. You are strong. And you are enough. Just as you are. In all the flaws you wear. Today. You. Are. Enough.

Because we so often take the message the world gives and we turn it over and around in our minds, and we twist it into a message of failure. We convince ourselves that we fall short. That we always fall short. We lay in bed at night and think, "If I could just get it together, then I would be good enough. My kids would act better. Our finances would be better. My house would look nicer. I would be a better person....." We are our own worst enemy.

But here's the truth. The real truth--You already are good enough. You always have been. Even when your life feels royally turned upside down. Especially then. Your value never decreases based on the outcomes that surround you. Your value remains steady and high. It will forever. We just need to be willing to live up to that kind of goodness. And we need to take the hands of those we love, and even those we don't, and make sure that they are rock-steady sure of their own goodness too. That's the way we make it. Together.

So, let's do just that. Believe in our own goodness. Own it. Together.
Soul to soul. Words to words. We can build.

What awesome statistics that will make.