Have you ever sat on a bench alongside a busy street?

Have you ever just watched the people going by?

They have lives too. They have their own set of troubles, just around the corner.

People will come and go, Friends will wax and wane, and love, however pure, is always a little shaky.

But the sun will always rise the next day, through the darkest clouds. And the rain will still pour during the starkest drought.

The world moves on, like the people on the sidewalk, like the cars whizzing by.

To be strong is not how much muscle you have, or how loud you can express your opinions while drowning out the others.

To be strong is to be grounded in who you are, to defend that, but to also fly with your dreams, and the stars in the sky, and to not drown others around you.

But to listen, and to watch.

Every interaction affects us, shapes us. So have more of them.

Life is the journey to find yourself, not to fit in and be someone else.

Next time you see a bench, sit. Just sit.

Watch. Just watch.

And smile.