I get it. Trust me, I get it. Life is hard. Sometimes you just don’t want to be here. Sometimes you just want to disappear into the background and pretend like you actually don’t exist. You lock yourself in your room and just cry. I know. I’ve been there. Sometimes, you want to just leave and not come back. Take the clothes on your back and just be gone. It sounds good in theory, but it’s a bit of a mess in practice.

It’s okay not to be okay. That sounds cliché, but it’s true. You don’t have to be perfect 100% of the time. Heck, you don’t even have to be perfect 50% of the time. You don’t have to be perfect at all. You could be a hot mess; hair you haven’t brushed all day, still in your pajamas from the morning, and an oversized sweatshirt and I promise you, there’s still someone out there who thinks you’re beautiful and wonderful and enjoys being around you.

Sometimes you just have to push past the negative thoughts. And I know, it’s literally the most difficult thing in the world. You think the people around you actually don’t want to hang out with you, or that you’re annoying, or they’re just pretending, but they’re not. They will have your back no matter what. When you’re crying for no reason, when it’s 3 am and you’re on the other side of the state having a panic attack, when you just want to get out of your house and show up at theirs unannounced, they will be there.

But sometimes, everything doesn’t work out as you planned it. And I promise, even if It feels like the end of the world, that’s okay too. Life is a series of hellos and good byes. Places change, people change, experiences change. Sometimes you have to let go to move forward. And it hurts. I know, I’ve been there, too. Moving forward is hard, but it’s worth it. I promise you, it is so worth it.