Heartbreak can be an interesting thing.

It's much easier to define than its counterpart, love (one that's more of a "you know it when you see it" type of feeling) which is probably because, for most people, it's a lot easier to experience.

Often, it's everyone's main goal to avoid having to experience such a pain. Why subject yourself to feeling a physical ache in your chest because you put so much of yourself into someone or something, just to have it get thrown back on the ground at your feet? Imagining having to pick up the pieces of yourself to try all over again is exhausting enough in itself, let alone finding the energy every day to get out of bed, put on a clean shirt, and go outside and face people.

But that is why you need to experience it.

Here's why you should get your heart broken as often as you can.

Trust isn't easy for everyone.

The more it gets broken, the harder it is to find a way to build it back up again. However, the more you build, the stronger it will become. The stronger you will become. By forcing yourself to open up to people over and over again, the scary parts of you start to become less scary. They simply become you. There are few things more freeing than being able to show someone exactly who you are without worrying about any secrets you need to keep, any stories you need to hide. If you can trust them to love you for all that you are, you can trust yourself to stay as you are.

Picking up after a broken heart will show you more about yourself than you even think there is. You will learn if you're good at asking for help and whether you eat everything in sight or nothing at all when you feel empty. You will learn which sitcom is the best distraction and discover you might have a love for poetry. When you are forced to just be with yourself when you are most vulnerable, you will be forced to understand how you function in the face of pain and hardship. You will learn to take care of yourself without relying on someone to help you. Because of heartbreak, you will become more independent than you ever realized you wanted to be That is a good thing.

And then there's love. I'm not going to tell you what love entails because you need to determine that for yourself. However, the more you get heartbroken, the more you learn the importance of love. Having someone to share it with makes you start to see just how beautiful the world is. Someone who makes you want to learn all the constellations because she told you that growing up, they were the one thing that made her feel small. Someone who makes you start to pay attention to the clouds every day because he told you they remind him that beautiful things don't always last, so you need to appreciate them while you can.

Each new person that comes into your life opens your eyes to something new, something wonderful that has always been there waiting for you to find it. If you didn't let yourself fall in love as much as you can, despite getting broken all over again, imagine the beautiful things you will never learn that you love, all of the things you will miss out on. And soon enough, heartbreak makes them all the sweeter because although those people are no longer a part of you, the phenomenon of the world remind you every day that you will always carry a little bit of them with you. And so no matter what, you will never be alone.

You are a combination of all that you love, and all that you have loved. The more you let people in and let yourself break, the fuller you will start to become. Each lost love, each broken piece of your heart is a battle scar. Proudly show them to people and say "Look at how much I gave. Look at how much it hurt. Look at how much I love who I am now because of it." The more practice you get loving people who don't deserve it, who don't deserve you, the better you will be at loving the ones who do.