The art of letting go is not one that is easy. The ability to pick yourself up off the ground when situations cause you to fall is not easy. The malicious battle of uttering forgiveness but not being able to forget is not easy.

When someone who I thought to be a best friend turned out to be someone I did not end up recognizing any longer, leaves me with memories that I am unsure of how to erase. I sometimes wish that our brains had a "selective erase" button that got rid of the memories and ache we collect as time goes on. This would make the process of letting go much easier.

We are left with messy paint brushes and mixed color palettes to master the art of letting go. As I imagine this blank canvas in front of me, waiting for me to create something beautiful with what I have, I come upon a realization. I would not be able to recognize the purity that the color white reflects without knowing how dark the color black is.......without darkness, there is no way to know what light is.....without struggle, there is no way to know what a life of prosperity feels like. Did I just crack God's secret?

Pondering about this metaphorical canvas gives me a sense of understanding of why we all struggle and why we are forced to tell our hearts to let go of things that hurt us. It also gives me a sense of why this is necessary. Mastering this form of art allows one to live a life that does not encompass hurt and failure.

I always thought that I was the only one who had to adapt to inconsistent relationships and feelings of not being enough academically and socially, but this ideology of white and black gives me a sense of peace. I would not be able to appreciate moments of happiness and peace if I did not know what it was like to struggle some. I would not appreciate the good friends in my life if I did not experience what it was like to have bad friends.

Memories still linger, and only time will help heal the bad ones, but you are not alone; this is what life is designed as, I suppose. With the good comes the bad, and much like roller coasters go up and down, life does as well.

The key to making your canvas as beautiful as it can be is to recognize and appreciate all the colors and messy paint brushes that God provides us with. There is a reason we go through adversity and that reason, according to me, is to appreciate and recognize moments within our life that are not filled with obstacles. With this perspective - the friends you lose, the arguments you get into, the classes you fail, and even the pimple that appears on your face right before your big date - all things make sense and become balanced. Use the good and the bad to make something beautiful; you are the artist of your own blank canvas.