I've been hurt a lot.

From relationships.

From family.

From friends.

But haven't we all?

We constantly dwell on the things that have happened to us.

We start to change how we act.

How we receive love.

How we respond.

How we carry ourselves.

We modify our light to make sure it doesn't happen again.

But I'm sure it has happened again hasn't it?

The more we push it away the more it fights back.

We try to push the pain away.

Versus working through it.

Acknowledging it.

Understanding it.

We bury it.

In hopes of it never resurfacing,

Most of the time though it does.

We didn't learn our lesson.

We let it define us.

Our behaviors.

Our love for ourselves.

Our relationships.

We need to understand that bad things can happen to good people.

Bad things can happen to you.

To them.

To everyone,

But that's how we grow.

That's how we understand ourselves.

We start to collect our wants in relationships.

We start to understand boundaries and limits.

We start to understand human behavior and human connection more deeply than before.

And some may say what a shame.

But I say what a success.

That you were able to see the light through the darkness.

You were able to keep getting up with the understanding that maybe it could happen again.

You allowed yourself to step into that pain.

That betrayal.

That mistreatment.

And say I will not let this define me.

And I will move forward.

We are the strongest fighters of our own battles.

We can rise and we can sink,

But just because you may sink doesn't make you weak.

It makes you vulnerable.

It means you can feel.

And that is your strongest gift.

That you can feel regardless of the things that have happened to you.

I am proud of you for stepping back into the world and trying again.

The second you stop trying,

Is the second you stop living

So you have to make that choice.

Do I want to live,

or do I just want to exist?