I imagine what my daughter can do if the world around her constantly told her she is enough instead of trying to make her fit into a box that will never be designed for her.

With acceptance, I also found hope. Hope that my little learners would fall in love with school again. Hope that a vaccine will save lives at a rate faster than COVID-19 stole them. Hope that having a smart, compassionate, fierce, and loving woman at the White House will help our nation heal, and show my daughters how to painfully and joyfully shatter the glass ceilings built over top of them.

This is the sweet spot in life - that point where fear meets possibility and we know there is no turning back. No matter our fears, our anxieties, our sadness, our differences, our desire for control and foresight, we cannot choose to sit on the sidelines and remain unchanged even if we try.

We can live life without joy, but I believe we aren’t fully living if we aren’t actively pursuing, chasing, seeking, creating, and straight up running down joy every single day. The good days, the bad days, the awful days, and even the really broken days.

I believe we are called to live a life based on vulnerability and showing up as our authentic selves because that's the only way we can truly connect as humans. We find commonality, acceptance, compassion and unconditional love through the mess.

This is where life turns into living. When we are willing to live at the edge where fear is in the ravine below us and radical love is at the top of the mountain in front of us. Where discomfort is under our feet, contentedness is in our hearts, and opportunities are in our hands.

Here is the lesson I am learning: to gain or regain a mountain top perspective - the kind that assures us to our core that our life is worth living and we will find purpose and fulfillment - requires perseverance and patience. It requires us to push our spirit, mind, and body past the point of no return.

How is it possible to be completely lost, and yet more found than ever before, at exactly the same time? I don’t have the answer, but that’s where I am, and I'm trying to be OK with it. In case you are there too, here’s how I’m navigating.

The beauty of heartbreak, grief, loss, and probably most forms of emotional pain is that it builds within us a deeper sense of compassion, empathy, and relatability. It prepares us for the more difficult journeys that lie ahead, and not just for ourselves, but for the times when we need to carry others.

"How do we prove who we are? ... We know who we are by how we love people. And not just the lovable people, the people that creep us out. It's how you love them. That's where we get our identity. That's how people know us." -Bob Goff

For the first time, I am attempting to share my story, and am equal parts terrified and hopeful someone might read it, and join me on the journey of life. Thank you for being part of this first.