Atheist's Prayer

if i believed in god, i might say a prayer something like this:

let me do everything i can to help my kids to grow up healthy and happy, to give them the knowledge they need to navigate life and the spirit to do it in their own way, to allow them the freedom to explore life and thoughts and themselves and to protect them from the things that that freedom exposes them to...

let me get rid of the psychological ghosts that whisper in my ear that i'm not good enough for this thing i've found and push me to shut down and disconnect when i'm feeling small and alone; let me be as open to the idea of being loved as i am to loving...

let me gather thought and intention and space them out evenly so that i can accomplish not only what needs done to pay the bills, but what needs done to keep me sane and whole and happy...

let me never forget to hug the ones i love as many times as i can, to tell them how much they mean to me, or to remind them that they are wanted and welcome and accepted every second of every day...

let me remember that the man i love isn't perfect, and that i fell in love with those imperfect pieces along with everything else, and that without them, he wouldn't be who he is; and that i am only where i am because he overlooks my flaws as well, and that what's good about us overrides the quirks that make us human...

let me believe in myself enough to work to make our dreams a reality; to support not only my children and beau in their endeavors but myself in my own; to accept help when it's offered, ask for it when i need it, and offer it when i see that others could use it.

and lord, please, let me wake up in the morning with a b cup and a million dollars in the bank. amen.