To The Lonely Girl Who Has Never Been In Love,

You spend countless hours trying to comprehend how everyone, from your best friend to your neighbor's dog, seems to have a loving companion. Your best days turn somber from the thought of not having a lover to share your happiness. You walk around with the hopes that today is the day that you and the love of your life rub shoulders absentmindedly. In the meantime, you roam around with "to love and be loved" strung through your thoughts all day, everyday.

To be lonely but never in love feels like an empty pit at the bottom of your heart that is yearning to give and receive love – an emptiness that can leave you sunken in your bed from dusk to dawn. Nights are filled with puddles of your own salty tears where sleep becomes the only remedy. When you finally decide to leave your bed, it's only to climb into the bed of someone undeserving, giving all of yourself, only asking for a piece of them in return. That's when you begin to confuse love with lust.

Those "I need you right now" texts at 2 a.m. is the closest thing to "I love you" that you've ever heard and rush to respond. You hope to turn a sexual tryst into a blooming romance. It finally gets serious when he tells you that he wants a relationship...with someone else. It's then that the emptiness in your chest begins to grow deeper, but you suck it up and find a replacement at the bar or on Tinder where Micheal becomes Adrian, then Rob, Scott, Matt and so on. Soon, they leave as fast as they came and their names begin to repeat and blend to where you don't even bother to remember them. It's a bitter cycle that leaves you less in touch with yourself the longer it continues.

You stick through the torture because it's the only thing you know, and in a sick way, it's a familiar sense of comfort.

Every day seems grey at this point, but it's not, I promise. Try to focus the love and energy you seek to the friends and family that love you unconditionally. Busy yourself – get ahead in your school work before you fall behind. Study for that chemistry exam you've been putting off for the past two weeks. Get outside of those cement walls of your dorm and go for a walk in a park or read a book by the pool.

Fill that empty pit with the things that you love about yourself. Stop searching for someone to love you, it will come only when you aren't looking. Yes, you will occasionally fall back into that sadness that only loneliness can bring, but that's because you're human. With time and great patience, you can overcome it.

Best Wishes,

The Girl Who Found Love