To anyone who has had a hard time walking away:

I can assure you one thing, it's never easy and it never will be. There comes a point in time when there's no more "fixing things" or "trying to make things work." The arguments happen more frequently and the laughs fade into the distance; you're no longer admiring the things you love about one another but you're noticing the things you dislike more evidently. Smiles turn into tears and "I love yous" turn into harsh words spoken from violent tongues. We notice the change in our partners behavior, the way the compliments end, the way the laughs fade and the way the connection dwindles; the one thing that we often fail to notice, however, is how much we've changed. The lack of smiles, the lack of energy, the lack of happiness, all because we've allowed this person to be the sole contributing factor to our happiness that we forget how to make ourselves happy too. We forget how good it feels to be alone, how much we used to enjoy reading or going dancing with our friends-- we forget who we are because we no longer know ourselves without the mixed identity of another soul.

Speaking from a place of experience, there's so much beauty hidden in letting go. There's so many new "hellos" and "how are yous?" There's new dances to be learned, new adventures to go on, new bonds to create and most importantly, there's an old you that's waiting to break through to the surface and love themselves again-- never be afraid to let that person shine, even if it means you're standing alone.