Dear 28.... "I'm Ready".

Hello People.....

Today is my birthday, and honestly, I am grateful for the gift of life.

This past year has not been easy at all,see In fact, I can actually say that I saw life the hardest this past year, there were moments when I genuinely did not know how I was going to keep moving forward, but somehow, one day turned into another, and here I am today.

I cried a lot this past year, more than I ever imagined I would, i know how many times I locked the room door at my parents' place just so I could be alone with my thoughts, there were days I didn't want to talk to anyone, Days when I just wanted silence, Days when I needed to sit with the hurt, the scars, the disappointment, the trauma, and everything else that seemed too heavy to explain to anybody.

Sometimes people see me smiling and think everything is fine, they don't know the battles I fought when nobody was watching, I am one person who puts up a smile even when I am hurting, they don't know the prayers I whispered when I felt like giving up, they don't know the nights I spent staring at the ceiling wondering when things would finally make sense.

Looking back now I don't know how I got through some moments, there were situations that tested me in ways I never expected, see i lost things and I had to let go of some things too and had to accept my realities, truly none of it was easy.

But see ehn, somehow I am happy for all that happened.

And it's not because that the pain was enjoyable or some thing, and yes, not because I would want go through it again, but because it made me realize something very important about myself, see It made me realize that I can be strong.

There were times when I thought I had now reached my limit, lol, but still I kept going, not funny but I gat to laugh it out, see, times when I felt broken still I still found reasons to wake up and continue, and seriously those times when I doubted myself, yet God kept carrying me through.

This past year taught me resilience, seriously, It taught me patience, It taught me that healing is not always a straight road, it taught me that sometimes growth comes wrapped in pain, and sometimes the strongest version of yourself is born from the hardest seasons of your life.

So today for me, is not just a birthday for me,

And yes, It is not just becoming a year older,

It is a reminder that I survived,

It is a reminder to me that God's grace has indeed been sufficient , even when I could not see the way forward,

Yes, A reminder that his love, mercy, kindness, and faithfulness have kept me standing strong.

So today, this is me choosing gratitude.

I choose to celebrate every lesson, every victory, every tear, every prayer, and every step that brought me here.

Here is to Chapter 28 of my life.

Here is to healing.

Here is to growth.

Here is to peace.

And more importantly here is to becoming everything God has called me to be.

And most importantly, here is to another year of grace.

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