Linger a bit longer,
Let the words gently fill your senses,
Your breath will keep them company.
What story were you lucky to be a part of today?
How can you honor the soul who trusted you with the twists and turns of their life?
What might you do to safeguard the dignity they deserve?
How lucky that today you were able to be there for someone you did not know yesterday.
You are now holding in your heart a precious commodity.
Someone trusted you with what was irking them, what brought them joy, what enraged them, what frightened them, what moved them, or simply, what is.
Handle it with care.
Brood over it for a bit.
Hold them close to your heart for just a while longer but remember they are not yours to keep.
They were handed to you for safe keeping only.
Fill your heart with gratitude that in this vast space of 8 billion, you were the 1 chosen to bear witness when their world was ending.
For a brief moment you carried the weight of the world—its hurt and its messiness—on your shoulders.
It is now time to breathe in gratitude and breathe out the weariness,
It is now time to make room for the next story.
Someone else is waiting for your Presence.
Go be with them—fully and completely.
Take in, once again, the magnitude of the moment.