You Are a Child of the Universe

I was browsing the web the other day when I found a quote that really touched me. It was a quote from Sylvia Plath's mother and it goes:

"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here."

Now I have absolutely no idea if Sylvia Plath's mother actually said this or if it was just some creative person who thought it would be funny to say that it had to do with Sylvia Plath. What I do know is, I love it.

I often find myself thinking that I have so many blessings, too many to count, and that I have done nothing with them. When I was little, I really wanted to change the world. My dream in life was to help as many people as I could. And although I still vaguely have that dream, I've helped practically no one with all of the things that have just been handed to me.

I also feel like I don't deserve my life whenever I have a problem that I am very upset over. One time, I sat in my bed crying because one of my friends had been rude to me and then I thought, "There are millions of people that go hungry every single day and the only thing I have to worry about is what some other stupid teenagers think about me."

So with all of these thoughts of inadequacy, I had practically convinced myself that I didn't deserve the body, the life, and the family that I had. I had convinced myself that I didn't deserve to be a human being because I hadn't fulfilled my dream (and obligation) of helping people. But the moment I read this quote? I realized something.

I realized that we all deserve to be here on this earth, whether or not we are being productive members of society.

So instead of taking that cynical point of view and beating myself up over my lack of accomplishments, I will try to see the world as Sylvia Plath's mother did, as a beautiful place filled with beautiful and worthy people.