For Who I Am

I want to be loved and accepted for who I am. 

I want to know I can walk into a room with all of my inadequacies, without the perfect outfit or the most witty remarks, and people will still be glad to see me.

I want to know I won’t be talked about the minute I leave the room, or if I have to decline the invitation. 

I want to feel supported and encouraged to chase my dreams.

I want to know my relationships don’t hinge on how quickly I respond to a text or a voice message. I want the understanding that life is crazy and amazing and sometimes we are pulled in a lot of directions and as much as I want to reply – time just got away from me. It’s nothing personal. 

I don’t want to have to perform a certain way, or have to worry if I’m saying the right things. I want to be free to come as I am, and to know I am loved, fully, as is.

Even more than wanting these things, this is the kind of person, the kind of friend, I want to be. 

One who loves unconditionally. 

One who doesn’t gossip. 

One who is accepting and welcoming and encouraging. 

One who doesn’t expect my friends to fulfill something in my life they were never meant to fulfill. 

I want my friends to be able to walk into my house and kick off their shoes and fall asleep on my couch if they need to. 

I want to offer up heaping amounts of grace. To embrace inadequacies. To encourage authenticity. To welcome vulnerability. 

To come as I am. 
And to always invite others to come exactly as they are.

*This post originally appeared on my Truly Yours, Jen Facebook Page