When I was 16 years old, a sophomore in high school, I moved to a new school and met a cute boy who I happened to spend the next 4 and half years with. I moved in with him when I was 18. We got an apartment together and lived there for a few years until I started nursing school and had to save more money. I had a respectable job, was going to be a nurse, was going to marry this boy, and eventually have kids.

Then life hit me. I realized how unhappy I was, how mean he was to me, I questioned how someone who "loved me" could treat me a certain way.

I realized I was doing all this stuff in my life just to please him and not myself and then I just left. It finally got to that point where I decided to leave and make myself happy.

But then life hit harder and I realized I had no idea what I was doing. I have all these aspirations and things I want to do, then I started getting distracted by other things I wanted to do. I started going on dates with boys that didn't respect me, and who only wanted one thing from me. I found myself extremely vulnerable, got my heart broken real fast. I started letting people in my work life down. I was going to move far away, and then I wasn't. I was going to become a flight attendant, and then I wasn't. I had to make some tough decisions.

AND I still am making tough decisions. I am still going through all this. It has been the absolute most challenging 2 months of my life, but I am getting there, and I have the best support network behind me. I am making my place in life and just figuring out who I am and realizing there is A LOT of other people doing the same exact thing.

You hear people say, "life is hard", you hear about the stories of challenging work, the long days, the trials it puts you through. But you don't think about how hard life really is until you are put into a challenging situation of your own. Only then do we discover what all these people in our life are talking about when they say that. That is when it comes into perspective. That is when you really start to realize that nobody really cares what goes on in your life, but that doesn't mean you should stop trying.

Whether it's work, a relationship, losing somebody close to you, not knowing what you want to do with your life. Life is a trial. We all go through it. Some of us go through it better than others, some of us have it easier. Have more money. More friends. Are Smarter. Are Prettier. But it will always be like that, and when we realize that then we can start to enjoy who we really are then it's better. I have learned that when it rains, it pours. But you can't have a rainbow without a little rain.

I just went through the toughest spot in my life so far. I can tell you that I'm working on where I want to be and learning who I am, finding my place in my life, and making a bunch of crazy decisions. It's okay to do that too. It's perfectly fine to make mistakes, that is how we learn, and how we become who we are and grow into ourselves as people.

I have a story, just like everyone else. I'm going to keep living my story, and working on it, adding onto it. Keep figuring out where I am in the world, and doing what I want to do now, because I can. I am going to keep doing this just like everyone else in the world, and smile and enjoy while I do it, and hopefully to whoever is reading this. You will too.

"I have fought a thousand battles, but I am still standing. I have cried a thousand tears, but I am still smiling. I have been broken, betrayed, abandoned and rejected, but I am still walking and proud. I smile, I laugh, I live life without fear and when I love, I love hard. I am humble , I am beautiful. I am real...I am me."