Dear Negative People Who Impacted Me,

I want to start out by saying how much it hurt and how much anger I had towards each one of you. There were times in my life I wanted to just let you win and give up. I can say this though, you didn’t win. I’m not the girl you portrayed me to be. I’m not the girl you used to push down in the school halls and shove me into my locker. I’m not the girl you used to make fun of for being “fat and ugly”. I’m not the girl who you could always manipulate into doing your homework just so she could have lunch and not go hungry. I’m no longer the girl who you told to go kill herself and she tried but didn’t succeed. I am the girl who said enough is enough. I’m the girl who is in college proving every single one of you wrong by being the best I can be. I am the girl who on March 15^th of this year is going to be a year clean of cutting again. I am the girl who is starting a family with a man I love dearly and is going to be a great mom. I am also the girl who is wiser about whom I choose to allow into my life. I am not the girl I used to be anymore. Now I am a stronger, wiser woman. I am a mother, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a girlfriend, and a student. I have family and friends that love me for who I am. I have my son who means everything to me and I would do anything for him. I will teach him about people like you and protect him from people in his life who would try and hurt him. I am not a weak little girl anymore. I am an overprotective mother who would go to the ends of the world to protect her son. I am not what I used to be and that’s for the best.

I also want to thank you. Thank you for allowing me to learn from you and figure out who exactly I don’t want my son to be like. Thank you for teaching me to stand up for myself and never again let anyone break my spirit. Thank you for teaching me that even though you may be not good for me, that there is still good people who are going to surround me and love me. Thank you for proving that I can be a strong woman. Thank you for the motivation by telling me I can’t do something because it has made me work harder to do what I want in my life. Thank you for allowing me to never again hurt myself because of you. Thank you for motivating me to do what’s best for me and my son. I will not allow myself to be hurt by you anymore. I won’t allow myself to fall back into that dark place I was when I was younger. I won’t allow you to push me down so far I can’t get back up. I will keep moving forward with my life but still remember what you put me through. I may have forgiven you but I will never forget.

Sincerely,

The Girl Who Has Changed