1. You are wonderfully made.

Your body, your brain, your being—constructed in a way that’s beautiful, that’s breathtaking, that’s uniquely you. And no matter how you believe you were created, or by whom, you have to look at this world of millions and millions of bodies, and know that you are special.

2. You are loved.

You are loved because there are so many people who love you. And this world, though imperfect, is so wonderful in that—You are loved. By family, by friends, by lovers, by strangers. And even if you cannot believe that you are loved by a God, though you are, take comfort in the fact that there is love around you, and freely given to you.

3. You are not alone.

The comfort you feel when you’ve reached rock bottom and begin to turn around, the solace you find when someone else is going through the same thing you are, the positive thoughts that somehow slip into your brain when you’ve reached the end of your rope—even if you cannot trust in God, you are continually reminded that you never have to face this world on your own.

4. You are not defined by your imperfections.

Call it imperfections, call it flaws, call it sin—but it does not define you. The lightness you feel after an apology, the wholeness that seeps into your skin when you do something good, that is God at work in your soul. But regardless of your faith, you are so much more than the bad that you have done, and the bad that has happened to you. You will see this as you begin to let it go.

5. Your pain will pass.

God promises this, but despite your faith, you will see it time and time again. You will see how anguish shifts into calm, how heartbreak shifts into healing, how hurt shifts into new beginnings. Find comfort in this.

6. You are forgiven.

This is shown in the way people love you, even after you’ve hurt them. Or how you continue to care for people that have hurt you. This chance at new life, at new love—it’s beautiful, it’s restorative, it’s healing.

7. You will be reborn.

In Christianity, this is Heaven. But even if you cannot rest your faith in Heaven, you can believe in the power of second chances, in the beauty of little reminders from ones who have passed, in the way we see pieces of ourselves being reborn in the ones we love—our friends, our family, our children. And in that, we live on.