As I was scrolling through Facebook today, I came across a video that my friend shared, entitled “What I Wish Someone Told Me About Having Sex.” Here is the video:

After I watched that, I felt that the title did not really capture the purpose of the video. It might just be my opinion, but I have definitely been told this stuff and at the age of 20, I personally feel that it is not a matter of "wishing someone had told me this stuff," it's a matter of being reminded about this stuff. In this society, where hook up culture is the only culture, we need to be reminded as often as possible that we are all worth loving. It's unfortunate, but it's true. Because of how hook up culture works, we aren't supposed to develop feelings or invest ourselves in the people we are getting intimate with and because of that, we don't communicate enough and misunderstandings, mixed messages, and getting hurt is disgustingly common in our everyday lives.

I could go on forever about the flaws in society and why hook up culture is terrible, but that's not what I want to use my words for. I want to use my words to remind everyone that you are worth far more than you could ever know and your worth is not defined by others. I want you to know that you are appreciated and loved. It is not your fault that the boy you hooked up with last weekend hasn't answered your texts. It is not your fault that the person you have hung out with, hooked up with multiple times, and regularly text, does not want to date you or be anything more than what you currently are. It is not your fault that no one is chasing you or falling for you right now. It just means there's no one right for you right now in your life. You are not annoying, clingy, or crazy for asking that boy you have hooked up with for the last five months what it means to him. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You are extraordinary. You are brave for putting yourself out there. You are kind for caring about others. You are beautiful. You are not embarrassing yourself if you text him a long message expressing your feelings after he suddenly started ignoring you. You have done nothing wrong. What you've done is actually right.

Think about it. All you ever did was be brave and take risks and invest yourself in someone else, something bigger than yourself. All you ever did was live. Because isn't that what living is? Isn't that what life is really about? Life is about taking risks, caring for something that is bigger than yourself and investing yourself. It's about being brave and putting yourself out there. It's about making mistakes and it's about making those mistakes and not regretting because those mistakes gave you strength and wisdom in the end. Everyone comes into our lives as a blessing or a lesson and both are beneficial to you. All you can ever do is be yourself, be brave, and love. Because in the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take, the relationships we were afraid to have and the decisions we waited too long to make.

It is far better to say that you have loved and lost, than to say that you have never loved at all. If we never take risks, like investing ourselves in someone else, then we will miss out on all the extraordinary things that come with risks. You are worth it. At the end of the day, the one's that leave us weren't ever really meant to be apart of our lives anyways. I promise you that person who made you feel like you were hard to love sits up at night wondering if they'll ever love themselves. So if there is one thing you take away from this, know that you are absolutely worth it and never forget that. Once you learn to value yourself, you will learn to always fight for your happiness and you won't ever let anyone or anything get in the way of that.

Be a rebel.