Our modern day world has us convinced that love is happiness. This portrayed happiness is falling asleep at night with your boyfriend/girlfriend and then waking up the next day to sunshine and rainbows. It is watching Netflix together and eating takeout Chinese. It is you walking down the street holding your partner's hands and then going out to dinner. It is making sure that you have the perfect outfit on and having your makeup on point. It is having someone telling you that you love them and believing them for a short while.

I am here to tell you the truth: this is not what you need in life to be successful.

Social media platforms have accounts that show impressionable teens that they need to be in a relationship. Ones that show boys how to be the perfect boyfriend and girls to be the perfect girlfriends. That you need to do _________ to make him/her happy.

You need to fall into a relationship when it is least expected. Now, this the tricky part because you usually do not realize this right away. The amount of time you have known them does not matter. They will come into your life at the weirdest of moments.

At our young ages, there is no reason for us to need to be in a relationship because most of the time, they never work out when you look for them.

This can be argued with online dating websites. Honestly, I do not think it is the best route for young adults to be on these sites; especially when most of them are leading to hookups. We are too young to be dealing with this. I understand middle twenties and above, but maybe I am just a hopeless romantic speaking from the heart.

Love will find you when you least expect it, and when it does, your happiness will already exist. HOWEVER, you need to make sure that your goals for your future are set. That you promise yourself to put your success first. Do not let anyone throw your hard work and passion away. If I continued with my last relationship, I would have done that to make HIM happy. Not myself. I learned the hard way that I cannot do that to myself. I have promised myself to never do that again. I know what I am capable of and understand that my success comes first.

I am now in a relationship that makes me forget all of the others. He pushes me everyday to pursue my goals and dreams. He recognizes and understands that my education and success will always come first. The best part of it all, is that he just happened to come into my life when I least expected him to. Fall for someone who you can be honest with you, makes you laugh, and does not take you for granted. Fall for your best friend. There is nothing else quite like it.

If you only take one thing away from this article, let that be self-respect. Be you. Do not let anyone change who you are only because it will make them happier. Stop looking to be with someone because you will find each other at some point. Be happy, be true, and learn to love yourself before anyone else.