“Wait:

1. Have you told the people you love that you love them?
2. Have you gotten out of bed?
3. Have you drunk enough water?
4. Have you read something that wasn’t on a screen?
5. Have you taken a moment to remember you are to you?

This is a checklist for being human.”

-Iain S. Thomas

I’ve been reading a book of poetry by Thomas and it has completely shaken me to my core. As I was reading (45 pages in one day…oops) this is the page that stood out to me nearly two weeks ago and has refused to leave my brain until I acknowledge just how relevant this statement is to me in my daily life right now.

My human checklist looks a lot like this:

1. Do you make enough money?
2. Is your job purposeful?
3. Did you make someone else happy today?
4. Are you doing what you should be doing in this life?
5. Should you start grad school in the fall?
6. Is it weird that I don’t have a desire to get married? Everyone else is doing it.
7. What if I don’t ever want to be a mom but want to love other people’s kids really well? Is that allowed?
8. What if?
9. What if?
10. What if?
11. What if?
12. What if?

You get the point…

But I didn’t until I read that page of this book. Being a human on this earth is the hardest thing any of us will do and the hardest game any of us will ever play. The expectations we set for ourselves are the hardest ones we will ever even know existed. Sometimes the best version of yourself for that day is drinking enough water to get rid of that three week long headache. Sometimes it looks like taking a bubble bath with cheap wine and sitting there until the water turns cold. Sometimes it looks like reading a book that will change your life. Sometimes it looks like getting out of bed…and that’s it. That’s as far as it goes somedays. All of those other things on your to-do list can wait. You are human and that is hard enough. Take care of yourself long enough and good enough to make it through those initial human checklist items…so that one day you may have a clear mind to answer questions 1-12 and not feel guilty about the answer.

When tomorrow comes promise yourself that you will:

1. Get out of bed if you are able bodied.
2. Drink enough water to get rid of the headache you and I both know you have.
3. Tell the people you love…that you love them.
4. Find a book. A poem. A magazine. A textbook. Read and learn something tomorrow.
5. Remember that you are important to you and that is enough.

I love ya, people.

Talk soon

xx