I once told you that you would get what you deserve. Harsh, right? The phrase has a negative stigma. I'm sure it seemed like a low blow in the moment, and I'm sure I even had a sharp tone when I said it, but if I could go back and explain, I'd tell you exactly what I meant. I meant that I wanted good things to happen to you, but the thing is, I also wanted to see you deserve them.

You see, ultimately people really do get what they deserve. I know that some people are thrown major curveballs in life and that is completely unfair. Illnesses, death, unfortunate circumstances- there's no way that anyone deserves that by any means, but the blunt truth is that it's the way overcome obstacles that define you. It's what you accept and what you settle for that ultimately determines what you end up with.

I once told you that you would get what you deserve. The way I looked at it was that you get out what you put in, fair trade. You were getting so much more than you deserved and I was getting so much less, or so I thought.

Maybe we both needed to be exposed to that- disappointments, thrills, high expectations only to be thrown back into reality. Everyone needs those stepping stones in life, those low moments that make you appreciate the good times. I mean how else are you supposed to have a general idea of what you deserve? How else am I supposed to gauge what I deserve? Looking back, I think the only way to treat someone the way they deserve to be treated is by first knowing your own individual worth, what you deserve, what you'll settle for, and what you'll never stand for. Or, as some would say, trial and error.

I want you to end up happy, but I also want you to make others happy. I want you to end up with someone who loves you, but only if you can love them every inch in return. I want you to bask in your triumphs, but only if you always remember to count your blessings. I want you to know that I think you deserve the world, but I don't think you deserve it to just be handed to you. No one does.

So, to the person out there getting what you deserve, do it. Go get it. It is you that ultimately decides. Trash that negative stigma and turn the words "getting what you deserve" into a positive phrase. It's never too late to change, and I hope that you're reading this in a different tone than you were at the beginning. So please believe me when I say that in the end, I really do hope that you get what you deserve.