You may think that no one understands you.

I think in many cases you're right. You’re not exactly like any of your friends. Something separates you from fitting into the puzzle as easily as everyone else does.

In today’s world, everyone has someone. We live in a culture of dating and labels and complicated histories, and that’s just not how you operate. You want something deeper than “just talking,” but sometimes it gets hard to watch everybody else fall in love and get their shot at happily ever after. I’ve been you. I am you.

I often struggle to feel like enough. Even if I join every club and play every sport, there’s always going to be somebody who is doing something more than me. There’s always going to be that friend who scores just a little bit higher on the chemistry test. There’s always going to be someone who is prettier, and funnier, and why wouldn’t someone choose them over me? There are times when no matter how hard I try, life just passes by in a blur, and some nights I just have to sit and convince myself to keep going.

I think we’ve all been there: sitting alone in a dark room and wondering why we even bother. Secretly, we’re all that girl. We’re all that boy. Life gets lonely sometimes, and the sooner we all admit that the better off we’ll be. Society has so many stigmas of how we should live and the perfect little box that we should all fit in, and the often intimidating reality is that almost none of us will grow up to fit in that box. But what the world refuses to tell us is that we don’t have to fit into that box.

What if admitting our loneliness is the first step to discovering the path to the rest of our life?

Instead of hiding our feelings from the world, maybe we should wear them proudly. Yes, I am lonely, but in a way, that just means I have more love to give to the other people in my life, whether they’re friends or something more. Loving everyone, even those who might not deserve it, isn’t a waste. It doesn’t make me pathetic--it might even make me strong.

Don’t be scared of being alone. The people who force you to wear that label with shame are actually giving you an opportunity. This is your chance to know yourself fully and to be at peace with the nature of your existence without needing any brave soul to come and save you from your demons. Instead, you will save yourself.

I know you. I’ve been you. And you are going to light the world on fire with a greatness so unimaginable that even the sun will be jealous. You are going to design and envision and inspire and LOVE so fiercely that no one will even be able to see straight for your brightness. You will build a legacy for yourself that makes the world hang its jaw open and wonder: how? And when you do, you will be able to look them in the eye and say, “Yes, I was lonely. But I found strength inside myself when I thought there was none left. I built this and I built myself, and now I’m ready to share my creation with all of you.”