A combination of annoyance and frustration sometimes overwhelms me, when I start to feel backed into a corner, but this is my way of standing my ground and barking back.

Over the last few months, I’ve learned life is filled with a series of unfortunate events that are balanced out by laughter, good times, and realizations, so this has been my journey of self-discovery and actualization. While I go through my process at my own pace, I’ve decided I’m done apologizing for who I am and what I choose to do.

This is life— imperfect, gritty, and all over the place. There are no guidelines mapping out how you are supposed to create yourself, while finding your purpose and fulfillment. This isn’t a test-drive either because it’s the only life we have, so we might as well try the best we can, and learn along the way, but there will be times when we fall off the wagon and make decisions that hurt others. It’s never intentional, maybe it could be considered collateral damage on those passing hearts and souls, and each bruise you leave behind reminds us that we are human, flawed, and finding a way to be better with each misstep.

It’s all part of the process: be a good person, but don’t sacrifice your happiness, your joy, your morals, your mindset in order to appease anyone else. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Each action has a reaction, whether that’s making a move to a new city or breaking up with a boyfriend. We make decisions that we believe will leave us better off, and we weigh our pros and cons, and acknowledge the good from previous times, but we know we have to take a new route that works best for us.

Others may not see eye to eye with us, others may not support our decision, others may become angry at us, which may make us second guess our initial decision. However, if we are following our intuitions and hearts, we may become resentful towards ourselves or others if we choose not to do something big based on others' opinions and perception of our reality.

So I say do it. Be brave, and authentic. Say what needs to be said without fear of their responses and reactions. This life wasn’t meant to be easy, but is meant to be an adventure, where you become who you are truly meant to be. Stand your ground, and know you are worth choosing every time.