"It's not you, it's me."

"We can still be friends."

"I just need to focus on myself right now."

These are all stereotypical things to say when you break up to cushion the fall, but when you actually mean these things it's a different story. I never meant to hurt him, and truth be told, I still love him.

Part of me probably always will. Our feelings were strong, our love was real, but our future was nonexistent.

When you love someone so much, but know that they're holding you back, what do you do? Some will settle, others will not.

Both are choices that people make every day, but they both always hurt one person. If you break up with him you're the bad guy.

You're the heartless bitch who told him he wasn't good enough. You set unrealistic boundaries. You lose him.

If you stay with him, you hurt yourself. You settle. You'll never know what could've been. You're stuck. You lose yourself. So when the time comes to make the decision, I chose myself.

I'm sorry it ended this way, and it's not easy for me to admit, but I'll always carry around a piece of you in my heart.

So I'm sorry I broke your heart, but you'll go on to do bigger and better things, and so will I. I'm proud of you and everything you've accomplished. I wish you the best of luck.