Dear Nameless Person,
I don’t know you, but I see you. Or rather, I don’t see you, but I hear you. I hear your hidden cry in the grocery store, the halls of school, the gas station, the streets, the world.
I hear you.
You are the person who doesn’t suck at life, but doesn’t win at it, either. You don’t have a 4.0 in school, but you do have a 3.4. You aren’t the top athlete on your baseball team, but you’re a solid player. You aren’t the manager at your job, but you do your job well. You didn’t make the news for being a “Wonder Mom,” but you take care of your husband and kids tirelessly. You aren’t rolling in the dough at a high paying job, but you show up every day to pay the bills for your family.
Basically, you are nameless.
You are average. You do what you’re supposed to do, sometimes at a great cost, but you don’t flaunt it. No news station is ever going to cover your story; you’ll never be on an Olympic podium receiving a medal, and your story won’t go viral on the internet.
Honestly, your life is pretty good. You didn’t come from poverty, your family isn’t broken and there’s been no major tragedy in your life. But no one listens to you. It kind of makes sense, because you don’t have anything remarkable to say, but it would be nice if people just listened.
Yours is the story that will never be reposted on Facebook. Your friends won’t share and reshare. Because they don’t have to. You didn’t overcome a drug addiction. You didn’t watch your parent die from cancer. Your best friend didn’t commit suicide. None of that. You just lived life. You’ll never reap the attention because your life isn’t unique in some way.
And honestly, that’s okay. Yeah, I know that’s super hard to hear.
You are actually the many. But the many don’t get names. They don’t have their names in lights. They have solid lives that aren’t falling apart. But you do have stories.
And I’m here to tell you: your story matters. I know your story doesn’t have outside tragedy or greatness to bare, but it has you. You matter. You’ve had struggles no one else knew about. There have been days that kicked your butt and made you cry. And they matter. There have been rough patches in your personal development. It was harder to get over that person than you thought. You didn’t always feel like going to school. And that’s okay!
Believe me, I know it’s super frustrating that no one cares. But don’t lie to yourself. There are people that care. Maybe your family or some of your friends. It doesn’t have to be a million people, but there are those people—or that person—who know you and your heart and what makes you unique.
So no, you won’t make the news. You won’t write a best seller. You won’t make millions at your job. And you won’t be an Olympic athlete. But that doesn’t mean your story doesn’t matter.
Your story matters.
Your life matters.
You matter.
There’s only one you, so live your life, confident enough that you don’t need the attention. Rock the socks off of it, and if someday you’re rewarded for it, great, but if not, that’s okay.
Just know that I see you. I hear you.
Thanks for living that quiet life without reward.