Have You Ever?

Have you ever felt beautiful? Have you ever felt ugly? Have you ever lost? Have you ever won? Have you ever not had enough money? Have you ever had money burning a hole in your pocket? Have you ever felt fat? Have you ever felt thin? Have you ever been with someone during a very dark time? Have you ever been so alone that it broke your heart? Have you ever cried yourself to sleep? Have you ever fell asleep feeling loved and at peace? Have you ever done the right thing? Have you ever done the wrong thing? Have you ever been brave? Have you ever been scared? Have you ever felt like a genius? Have you ever felt like a fool? Have you ever been someone’s hero? Have you ever caused someone pain? Have you ever been so hurt you held a grudge? Have you ever forgiven someone you thought it was impossible to forgive? Have you ever felt on top of the world? Have you ever had your heart broken into a million pieces? Have you ever talked too much? Have you ever kept silent and regretted it? Have you ever been mean? Have you ever reached out and helped someone that it changed their life? Have you ever cried so hard it hurt? Have you ever laughed so hard that it hurt? Have you ever been hungry? Have you ever been so full you couldn’t move? Have you ever made a mistake? Have you ever been perfect if only for a moment? Have you ever been selfish? Have you ever been selfless? Have you ever experienced great joy and horrible sadness? Have you ever had just the right words to say? Have you ever said the stupidest thing possible? Have you ever did bad things with good intentions? Have you ever done good things with bad intentions? Have you ever told the truth when it was hard? Have you ever lied when it was easier? Have you ever given? Have you ever received? Have you ever been lucky? Have you ever tried so hard only to fail?

If you can answer yes to all of these questions then you are human. You are alive and living. None of these things define you. None of these things determine your value. It is because you are not a human “doing”. You are a human “being”. Your value comes from your being-ness. You are perfect in your imperfection and imperfect in your perfection. You are beautiful in your ugliness and ugly in your beautifulness. You are rich in your poorness and poor in your richness. You are three dimensional. You are hot and cold and warm, and in the end the only true measure is love.

Have you ever loved someone unconditionally? Have you ever… loved yourself COMPLETELY?

Rev Jean Kadkhodaian is the Clinical Director at The Lighthouse Emotional Wellness Center. Located in Arlington Heights, Illinois, The Lighthouse, founded by Dr. Ray and Rev. Jean Kadkhodaian, provides the guiding light of emotional wellness for individuals, couples and families. In addition to providing a unique and more successful approach to working with couples called, Couples Synergy, The Lighthouse provides services such as: marriage counseling, relationship counseling, family therapy, individual counseling, divorce counseling, hypnotherapy, psychiatry and personal development workshops.