A while back, I was really struggling with self-confidence and friendships and felt broken and lost. I bought a key with the word LOVE on it as a constant reminder that, no matter what happens in life, loving myself is the most important thing. Every time I felt lost, confused, or lonely, I would grasp my key and remember to love myself. I wore it every day and grasped it more often than I even realized. It became a source of comfort for me.
Fast forward a year and a half to a business trip to New Orleans where I was at a bar with some new friends. A chair opened up in the middle of our friend group and a stranger walked up and asked if she could sit down. Little did we know our lives were about to be forever connected and changed.
We welcomed her like she was one of our own and we all got to chatting about our lives. She opened up about her recent struggles and, listening to her story, for the first time, I felt completely willing and ready to pass my key forward. I wanted nothing more than for her to have the same reminder as me and feel the same sense of comfort that I felt from grasping my key in times of need. I had considered giving it away a few other times in the past but something always held me back...until that very moment in a random bar in a city far from home with a complete stranger.
I have no words to explain why that moment was more right than any other I had experienced. All I can say is that when you're ready and you meet the right person to give your key to, you'll just know.
It's been a month now since I gave my key away. I do sometimes still reach for it and come up empty handed. However, every time that happens, I'm reminded that another person, now very dear to me, is getting strength from wearing the key and I can't help but smile.
Thanks to The Giving Keys for providing me with a never-ending source of strength, even now that it has been gifted forward, and for connecting me with a beautiful soul with whom I hope to always stay in contact.
-Meghan
