I think we spend way too much time on people who don't necessarily deserve it. Not that they're a bad person, but maybe they're just not good for you. Certain people intermesh incorrigibly and there's nothing anyone can do about it. We're all guilty of treating at least one person in our life in a way they didn't deserve, so there is no need to blame or point fingers. It's just so important to look out for yourself and not let other people treat you certain ways.

Never let someone make you feel like you're not good enough.

With the media and everyone around us constantly looking up at others, wishing they could be or have what they have, it's so tempting to just let it slide. And it's easy. We get to a point where we finally aren't constantly comparing ourselves to others, but then someone else does it for us and it's back to square one. Others want us and then don't want us because they think they've found someone better when the reality is no one is better than anyone else. Yes, some people connect better than others, but that doesn't make one person better than the other.

There is no birthright that makes anyone on this planet deserve more than anyone else. It's our individual passions, our motivations and our talents that make us who we are. Sometimes the fastest runner doesn't win the race, and sometimes the strongest warrior doesn't win the battle. Just because one person gets lucky doesn't mean another person didn't deserve it or wasn't good enough. Time and chance happen to everyone, but luck does not make anyone better than anyone else. You are enough. You always have been and always will be enough.

Never let anybody use you.

Don't let them use you for your good soul. Don't let them use you for your nice apartment you've worked so hard for. Don't let them use you for your generosity. Any friendship or relationship is a two-way street where no one should be giving or taking more than the other. It's easy to forget and let someone use you to make them feel better about themselves. It's easy to let them use you for their own ego. Let them nurture their own ego, they can do it without taking advantage of you.

Never let someone make you feel less for the things you like.

You're talking about your favorite TV show with passion and then someone takes a jab at it and makes you feel stupid for liking it. We all like different things! That's why there are so many things in this world! We don't all have to love the same books, or hobbies, or kinds of music, and you should never let someone make you feel dumb about something that makes you happy. And you should never let someone put you down because of any of these things that are beautiful and unique to you.

Don't let someone manipulate you, especially more than once.

Do you know how easy it is to fall victim to manipulation? By definition, it's covert and tactful--so pretty easy. We can separate ourselves from a situation and not realize until months later that it was manipulative and unhealthy. When your best interests are ignored and you find yourself waltzing around someone else to please them, this is when it goes too far. I see so many people around me being manipulated subtly and not so subtly everyday, and as much as I wish I could stop it I know that sometimes it's impossible to understand when you're in the cycle. All we can do is be cognizant of how someone else is making us feel, and if it is healthy or not. And then sometimes we just have to walk away, even if they try to make us feel worse about it.

Never let somebody from your past control your future.

A single social media post from them can do so much more than we realize. It can change our train of thought and steer it in a dangerous direction. It can create so much unnecessary anxiety, regret, and fear for the future. No matter what happened, it's important to accept what happened and work to be positive about what is yet to come. We all have made mistakes and we've all been treated poorly, but those things have absolutely no say in what you from those moments on. If anything, I believe they make us better. So don't keep yourself in chains. Help yourself to be free by not giving someone from your past the power to affect a new day.

Don't let anyone destroy your faith.

Maybe it's easier for me to say this because I have such strong beliefs that everything will work out and be OK. My faith has been shaken many times, but it's still there and I know it always will be. Don't give anyone the satisfaction of shaking you so hard that you give up hope. Hope is one of the most beautiful things in this world, and it's what makes the human condition bearable. There is absolutely no benefit in being negative. We gain nothing from telling ourselves that everything sucks and its not going to get better. The best thing about hope is that sometimes, and almost all of the time, it gets us to where we belong, and builds us up to become who we really are.