by guest blogger Sara Steinfeld

There’s a story you tell to the world
You know the one
Where you look so good
& got it all together
while everyone’s watching.
It’s called ‘pretenses’
Because you know, oh you know
you’re just pretending.

Then there’s the story you tell
In the dark places of your mind
The things you hate about yourself
All the hurtful self-talk from the past
all the things you never did cuz you
were scared
lazy
too much of a perfectionist
procrastinate too often
can never get it right
It’s that loop that plays on and on
In your head.
But there’s another story
That G-d tells about you
It’s that quiet whisper you sometimes hear
Softly, in a loving voice deep within.
The story of all you’ve overcome
And all that you will become
— The thing about becoming
Is that it takes time in coming,
And lots of
Hard work & hard times…
Even now, even here
in the darkness
You are growing
And becoming
You
-G-d whispers to your heart
The story of the eternal goodness
Which He poured into you,
The beauty in your soul
The greatness you’ll achieve
The quiet strength.
It’s the story of the light
You’ll piece together, choice by choice
The sparks of connection
You build with your voice
And your actions
One by one
Today, every day.
There are billions of stories
Being lived on this earth
But only one story like yours
And only you can live it
Only you
Right now.
One day, one day
You’ll get to look back & see
That all this time
As you were struggling
Falling, thinking you were failing,
Truthfully – you were shining
And the world couldn’t have lived without you
Because we needed you here
with all your messy imperfections,
To become you.
-thoughts for Rosh Hashana 5780