I'd choose me again

I’D CHOOSE ME AGAIN

If life gave me another chance, Another beginning, Another page untouched by the ink of yesterday, Another road where every turn was mine to make, I wonder… Would I choose differently?

Perhaps… Perhaps I would.

But after all the questions, After all the almosts, After every version of me That life demanded I bury beneath its expectations, I have come to one beautiful conclusion:

I'd choose me again.

I'd choose me again Because I am learning to love the person Who had to live through all of it.

The girl who smiled when her heart was heavy. The woman who kept showing up Even when nobody noticed the effort. The soul that questioned its worth Because the wrong people Held the microphone for too long.

I'd choose her again.

I'd choose the nights she prayed When words refused to come. I'd choose the mornings she rose With a thousand reasons to give up, Yet somehow found one reason to try again.

I'd choose the mistakes, Not because they were beautiful, But because they taught me That I could be wrong Without becoming worthless.

I'd choose the lessons, Even the ones that came disguised as heartbreak. I'd choose the waiting, Even when patience felt like punishment. I'd choose the seasons of silence That introduced me to a voice I had spent years drowning out.

And if I could meet every version of myself That I have ever been, I would not scold the younger me For the things she did not know.

I would hold her hand and say, "You were learning. You were growing. You were doing the best you could With the understanding you had."

I would tell her That she did not have to earn her right to exist, That she was not a burden For needing to be understood, And that being strong Did not mean she had to carry everything alone.

I would tell her, "You are allowed to begin again."

God did not create me To spend my entire existence Trying to become a convincing copy of somebody else.

He gave me a name. He gave me a purpose. He placed possibilities within me That comparison could never uncover.

I will take the lessons, Keep the wisdom, Extend grace to the woman in the mirror, And trust God with the chapters I have not yet learned to read.

So, if tomorrow handed me a blank page, If I could return to the beginning And choose again, With everything I know now, With every scar that taught me wisdom.

I would not ask for a life without mistakes.

I would not ask for a road without detours.

I would not ask to become somebody else.

I would simply ask God For the courage to live more honestly, The wisdom to love more carefully, The grace to forgive more freely, And the strength to become Everything He created me to be.

Then I would look at the girl Standing at the beginning of it all, Take her hand, And whisper the words I wish she had always known:

I'd choose me again.

Not the perfect me. Not the fearless me. Not the version of me That never stumbled.

The one who fell and learned. The one who cried and prayed. The one who lost a few things But found a little more of herself.

Yes, if life began again, I'd choose me again.

And this time, I would not wait until I became perfect To believe I was worth choosing.

I would choose me While I was healing.

I would choose me While I was learning.

I would choose me While God was still writing The parts of my story That I could not yet understand.

Let me make mistakes without losing myself. Let me love others without abandoning myself. Let me pursue purpose without despising my process.

And when the world asks me If I would change the person I have become, I will smile, Look heavenward, And answer without hesitation:

I'd still choose me, over and over again.