I come from a family of divorce.

I love differently because of my situation. I am not "head over heels" with the idea of true love. I am a realist. I know things may not always work out. And although I am always searching for a perfect, permanent situation, I know many things may be temporary. This does not mean that I seclude myself from relationships and friendships. I enjoy the time I have now with the people in my life and make the best of it. Some may stay around forever, and some may not. I've come to terms with myself that this is okay.

I am a victim of emotional abuse.

I love cautiously and constantly have my guard up in new relationships and friendships. Though I am damaged, I know the signs of toxic relationships well. I am not going to love the same way because of that experience. This doesn't mean that my walls will never come down. I will grow and be able to love at the same intensity again without fear of being hurt the way I was. I know I am smart enough now to remove myself from a toxic situation. I also yearn to care for others and remove them from toxic situations if possible.

I have an anxiety disorder.

I cannot handle the fact that I do not have control over every aspect of my life. I do everything I can to reduce my stress. My head is a constant to-do-list. I am in a continuous state of "what if?". Surely being so concerned about every aspect of my life keeps me from procrastinating, but I end up distancing myself from people I love and people I need in my life. It is hard to accept myself and my issues, but I can do it.

Most importantly, I am strong.

As I lay my damaged goods here in this article, I want to say that I love myself through all of the troubles I've gone through. I know it has made me a stronger and wiser person. I am able to help people going through similar things and feel deeply empathetic. I have been able to turn my struggles around and use the downfalls to push me to do better. I do not want pity because of what I've been through. They have made me who I am, and I think I turned out pretty well. I am not perfect, but I'm doing my best and that's all that matters to me.