A Poem by S. Gray

This affirmation is something I wrote for myself first — a personal grounding, a quiet prayer borne out of an ongoing season of grief. In a world that keeps demanding more than any one person should have to hold, I needed language that could meet me where I actually was: tired, stretched, hopeful, hurting, determined, and still every bit the woman who keeps getting back up.

It became a way for me to steady my breath when the days felt heavy, and to remind myself that endurance isn’t about pushing through; it’s about remembering who I am and what I’ve already survived.

I shared this personal piece for the first time with the audience at the 2025 Unity Summit in Minnesota as an offering — a gesture of solidarity, a grounding for all of us navigating a world in upheaval. And I’m sharing it again now with our beloved EPIP community, as both reminder and encouragement for the work ahead.

Because we are moving through layered times.

Because grief, personal and collective, is real.

Because endurance is something we cultivate together, not alone.

This is a companion...

A lantern for the path ahead...

A truth to return to when things get loud.

And so, with that intention, I offer it again:

Built Different: A Prayer for Endurance

(a petition and a reminder remixed with power)

May I remember that inconvenience is not defeat.

That anger can be holy when it moves with clarity.

May I trust that fortitude is my birthright,

and resilience my inheritance.

When the world feels like it’s breaking,

may I remember I’ve built new worlds before.

That even when I fall apart,

I know how to gather myself again...

piece by sacred piece.

Let this fire not consume me,

but refine me.

Let the weight of this work

become muscle for what’s next.

Let me rest in the knowing

that I am built different...

forged in grace,

tempered in truth,

and made for endurance.