To Be Here Anyway

Birth
is not a choice,
but how one responds to it can be.

Life
is not necessarily about fulfilling some grand destiny.
It can be about creating relationships, experiences, understanding,
and value within the limited time we have.

Existence
does not need the universe’s approval
to matter.

Suffering
does not have to be given false meaning.
What can be meaningful
is the way one responds to it.

Still
not because everything has an answer.
Not because being born was a choice.
Not because all suffering is justified.

But because, even so, we are still here—
still alive,
still trying to give it weight.