The world is an amazing place. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Life is an incredible gift. Somehow you came from space dust. Tiny particles, floating aimlessly around the universe. Then an unknowable confluence of events led to the beginning of life.

First tiny, single-celled organisms. Eventually, more complex ones. Since all life originated in the sea, you probably have weird fish blood and guts in you somewhere.

Then some bizarre sea creatures wound up surviving on land. They evolved. Then those new creatures evolved some more.

The cycle continued over billions of years until modern human beings took shape.

Your distant human ancestors were lucky to survive past infancy. Up until about a hundred years ago, the average life expectancy for a human was 30.

Against all odds, humanity not only survived, but thrived. Your grandparents met. Then your parents did.

Then finally, you came along.

You.

A person with thoughts, feelings, ambitions. A person who loves and is loved. A real human being with real value.

Your life matters. It has meaning. You are important.

You.

You should be excited every day to be alive. You should be pursuing with reckless abandon the handful of things that make you happy.

You should be ecstatic to be you.

You.

Remember, it’s a miracle that you even exist. Yet it’s so easy to forget where you came from.

It’s even easier to forget how much you mean to other people.

I am here to tell you that your life matters.

You matter to me. You’re reading this right now, and I’m humbled by it. You have so little time in this world, and you’ve chosen to read this.

You.

Thank you.

Thank you for allowing me into your life in this small way.

Your life matters, and you’re helping mine to matter, too.