Dear Love,

You stopped me in my tracks. Meeting you was like realizing that I was finally worth someone trying for me. I felt like a princess, and you did that. You put me up so high on a pedestal, I couldn’t see the people or changes around me. You made me feel reckless and safe, happy and comfortable.

But you knocked the crown right off my head, and handed it to someone else.

It knocked me off my feet. It forced me to feel all the insecurities that you assured me weren’t worth worrying about. It sent me into one of my darkest times, and forced me to think my darkest thoughts about myself, my life, and my future.

The departure was so sudden that I barely had a minute to catch my breath before you were on to your next victim. That made me question my self-worth and made me wonder what I was missing for you to forget about me so easily. I wondered myself into self-loathing and pity. I didn’t like the person that looked at me in the mirror. That wasn’t because of you, it was because I allowed myself to see myself through your eyes, and not mine.

So to you I only have one thing to say: Thank you.

Thank you, for teaching me how love should not be treated. I’m excited for the day that I meet the man who will make me believe in love, trust, faithfulness, and curiosity again. Thank you, for showing me the person that I don’t ever want to be again. I’ll never shut my friends and family out like I did when you encouraged me that I didn’t need them to be happy. I’ll never let myself believe what other people think of me again. Thank you, for treating me badly. I know the difference between loving someone you want and loving someone who deserves you. I didn’t know that before.

Thank you, for teaching me that you can’t keep running back to someone for help that won’t be returned. Thank you, for helping me understand how malicious and cruel people can be. I have my guard up on my heart now, but I’ll take it down. For the right person, when that person comes.

And finally, thank you. Thank you for teaching me that your idea of my worth is not my self-worth. Thank you for teaching me that you can be with someone for a very long time and still never know who they truly are. Thank you for knocking me off of my pedestal. I can see everything so much more clearly from the ground.