WORDS BY: MELISSA OHDEN | Pro-life speaker, writer and advocate | USA
Hello, I’m Melissa. Today, I want to tell you that you have intrinsic value! Yes, you!
Intrinsic value means that your worth, your value, is innate, or, in other words, it’s with you from the very beginning of your life. You don’t have to earn it.
You don’t have to act a certain way or impress a certain person. You don’t have to wear a particular type of clothes, listen to a particular type of music, or have the newest or coolest things.
No matter if you’re raised by both of your biological parents or none of them, because you’re adopted, like me, you have value.
No matter how other people treat you, no matter what other people think about the experiences you have had in your life and the things that you believe in, you have value.
You have value because you are you! And there will never be another you. Ever. Just think about that. That’s how special you are. That’s how much value you have. There can never be another you.
So, the next time you feel down about yourself… the next time you wish you were someone different… (I felt that way when I was younger because I was ashamed of how I was actually born through an abortion that failed)… Can you do something really important?
The next time you feel like you wish you could change who you are and what you’ve gone through or are maybe still going through, can you remember this one, very important thing?
You have intrinsic value. There will never be another you. The world needs you to be you. Just like the world needed me to be me. You be you. And you set the world on fire with your incredible, valuable self.
Melissa is an abortion attempt survivor and voice to the voiceless. She is a Master’s level prepared Social Worker and the author of You Carried Me: A Daughter’s Memoir. She is the Founder and Director of The Abortion Survivors Network. Melissa is a frequent contributor to pro-life news outlets and a regular guest on radio and television programs around the world.
Connect with Melissa: Website | Facebook | Instagram
This article first appeared in Edition 25.
