The tough conversations help me grow. Tell me what I do not want to hear, tell me something that I need to hear even if it hurts worse than any pain I have felt before. Tell me I am wrong, tell me I messed up.

Without any of the tough conversations, the battles, and internal struggles, I would be stuck in a dormant state--unable to grow and evolve.

Growing and evolving is what makes us human. We have done so for millions of years, it comes naturally to us. Change is something that has and will always happen to us, so we must welcome it into our lives with open arms even if it feels a little scary or painful at times.

In today’s day in age we are terribly afraid of pain, and in the process try to control everything around us to prevent pain from wiggling its way into our lives.

We try to cushion our friends’ pain as well as our own to make it hurt a little less. We shield ourselves and each other from the truth because sometimes reality hurts too much to bear. We resist pain with every ounce in our body, but why?

Often times the best thing for us is a tough conversation. Reality must strike at one point or another for us to get a grip on things and make efforts to progress and grow for the better.

Maybe you found out some information you would have been better off not knowing. It might destroy you on the inside and you feel you cannot carry on, but you have to remind yourself of this: if you did not discover this piece of information, your life down the line would not become what it is destined to become.

Maybe you brought up a tough topic of conversation with your friend, partner, or family member and accidentally opened up an entire can of worms you wish could have remained sealed shut for life.

Maybe you sent a super long and risky text that could result in destroying an entire relationship. You immediately feel regret slowly creeping in and engulfing your entire body.

Do not beat yourself up. I do not care what the circumstance consists of. The worst thing you can do is get mad at yourself for speaking your mind. If you did not speak your mind, the master plan or end goal for your life may not turn out how it is intended to.

Some of my toughest conversations, the ones that left me feeling broken and destroyed, led to the most beautiful blessings imaginable. Be patient and trust the process.

You need to remember every single thing that happens to you is happening for a reason.

Honestly, hearing this blanket statement can serve as zero help because at the moment, when you are going through the most difficult time, any encouragement or advice thrown your way immediately deflects off the force field you built around yourself.

You do not want to hear it, and that is okay for now.

Eventually, though, we must break down the barrier and slowly remove the force field. The force field we create to block out the truth, the pain, and the reality to save ourselves from hurt.

There is nothing wrong with staying a little guarded and protecting yourself, but there comes a point when we put up too strong of a shield and end up completely blocking the important messages out of our lives. The messages we need to hear.

These important messages and lessons will only reach us when we are ready to hear them and accept the fact that they are coming our way.

One way to accomplish this is to be open-minded and surrender to the process.

This may be harder for those of us who love to grab the reins and have constant control over our lives, but even making a small effort to open up to the idea that tough conversations, reality, and the harsh truth will help us grow and evolve into the incredible people we are destined to be.

We already encapsulate our full potential, but keeping our force fields up for too long and refusing to break down the barrier will inevitably prevent us from reaching our full potential.

If you are reading this, you have already survived monumental amounts of pain and hurt. Maybe a lot, maybe a little, but you have encountered at least a handful of situations that broke you.

A situation that destroyed your heart and soul. A situation you thought you would never get past.

Know that today you are alive and well. You are doing great, please stay strong and optimistic. Greater things are coming.