After experiencing what seems to have been one of the most challenging few months of my life, I came to a realization that, for quite some time, I was losing myself. It is a slow process to lose yourself, one that does not happen right before your eyes. Instead, you wake up one morning with a knot in your stomach, and you realize that all you have become is gone. For a moment, it seems as though everything you have worked toward was a waste. You evaluate your decisions, your regrets and your choice of company, trying to piece together what exactly it was that broke you. Whether it was a single experience or a culmination of such, it is important to remember that you cannot change what has happened to you. You take the time to repent. You take the time to grieve your losses. Yet, you cannot live in the past. From here, you can only move forward.

I firmly believe that nothing lasts forever - good or bad. Each day, we choose to ride the rollercoaster that is life, not knowing what we will encounter next. Be it a positive or negative result, it is crucial to remember that you are doing your best. Throughout life's most negative experiences, it is truly easy to lose yourself. Yet, nothing truly numbs the pain until you allow yourself the proper amount of time to cope. Meanwhile, the most important thing to remember is that you must know and maintain your worth throughout any given situation. At times, recognizing your worth seems nearly impossible. You want to make the choices that you think will make you the happiest, even when you know in your heart it is going to hurt down the line. Though with each painful experience that you think you will never get past, it has been proven time and time again that you are bound to grow stronger as a result.

I am not here to say that you should forget the joyous experiences that have made you wake up with a smile. I am not here to say that you should forget the moments that have broken your heart and made you fall to your knees. You do not have to erase the happiest of times from your memory simply because life has changed. You do not have to forgive those who have scarred you if they are not sincerely sorry for their actions. In essence, all that you can do is try to maintain your values. You can choose to live by the standards you want to uphold for yourself. You will cry, you will experience frustration, but you can choose to move on. Only you have the power to know your worth, and that will allow you to build yourself back up.