Love Letter for a Tuesday- we all wear our protective shell. Xx

I came across this snail this morning displaying a beautiful shell.

I noticed it had flicks of colour, gold being one of them.

It reminded me of the notion that we all wear a protective shell. Sometimes brightly coloured, sometimes camouflaged, sometime dull, sometimes lustrous....I feel we all have areas that are tainted with the happenings of life. Our shell, like our eyes tell a story of these happenings. Our eyes hold the truth, they hold the sadness, the joys, the worries and they don't lie.

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This protective shell is like our armour. It shelters us from the sometimes hard, difficult times. It also tells the story. As we grow older, this shell sometimes hardens because there seems to be more to lose, more to withstand. The softness of our childhood is sometimes lost in the growing older stage of life. It's there but we almost grow another layer of that part of ourselves to protect the more sensitive, raw and unaffected sides.

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If we become to hardened, too tough, we lose sight and are unopened to the joy life can bring. Through loss we sometimes feel guilty for displaying joy. But I truly believe that it's important to live for those we have lost. I think we are honouring them by choosing to see the joy. This joy can be in laughter and tears. Yes there certainly are hard, tough times and the golden parts of our protective shell is very much dulled. But please don't let life rob you of your shine, your flickering gold.

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We have been given this protective shell to hold us upright, to be our armour, to be a covering for the softer sides of us. We have been given this protective shell to show how strong we can be through the tougher times.

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I know there is an uncertain energy around at the moment and there are so many doing it tough. My hope and prayer for you this morning is that life doesn't harden your shell too much that it prevents you from seeing the joy, the treasures of life. And may your shell still flicker with the gold in the morning light.

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All my love to all,

Love Steph xxxx