The eyes looking back at me are soft and the skin around them is puffy. The colour is faded, but the depth is like a bottomless pit. Her eyes are haunting - wounded, broken, stomped by the world and all its betrayals, so that the fight has left her.

How do I tell her it will be better, one day? How can I convince her that the faith in humanity she used to hold so dear still deserves her belief? How can I see the shell that used to hold a Spirit so full of life, so hopeful and vulnerable and loving, and not ache for the scars she carries every moment of every day? And worse than the scars is the despair of not having hope.

"Scars remind you where you've been, they don't have to dictate where you'll go" - it's a great quote. It sure does depend on the number, compoundedness, and frequency of the scars though.

So I will sit with her pain.  I won't move to hide it, or fade, or fix it.  I will BE with her, because she's hit the wall.  She will see that... even though she is scared, even though she feels she is not enough, even though she feels lost, even though she cannot see a way through the pain...  she is not alone, even if she feels alone.  Because sometimes, just having someone willing to BE with you... to BELIEVE in you... is enough to reignite a spark of self belief.  

It's called love, and in the words of my wise friend...  it's an ACTION WORD.