To The Ones That Broke My Heart,

When I met you, you made me believe in fairytales again. You always made me feel special, beautiful, and important, and I can never thank you enough for the constant reassurance and hope you gave me in what love could possibly be like.

However, things fall apart, even us, leaving me broken-hearted and alone, not knowing what to do without you. You breaking my heart was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to experience, and I’d be lying if I said that it still didn’t break my heart a little each and every day. But as I put my pieces back together, I realized that I wanted to say something to you that I never expected myself to; thank you.

Thank you for showing me what I want in a relationship, and what I deserve. People fall out of love for a reason because they weren’t meant to stay together. We were the same in a lot of ways, but we also differed in many ways too. You breaking my heart allowed me to see these differences much clearer than before, and realize the qualities that I truly do want in the next person I fall for. It made me realize that I deserve someone’s best, and all the effort they could possibly give towards a relationship. Now don’t get me wrong, I still do care about you, and even though you broke my heart and couldn’t give me what I wanted, I will always cherish what we had. To me, you were not only a lesson, but a blessing as well, and for that, I thank you.

Thank you for helping me discover my inner strength. When you broke my heart, it broke me into so many different pieces, and I had no idea how I was going to be able to put myself back together again. But life moves on, and so did you, and that’s when I realized that I needed to do the same. It was hard, but by myself, I rebuilt myself into a strong, independent girl who learned to realize that a boy should not determine your self-worth. You leaving allowed me to realize that I can be strong on my own and that I don’t need others to depend on to survive. Thank you for helping me realize that I am strong all on my own, and allowing me to see that I can make it through anything, no matter how hard it may seem.

Finally, thank you for helping me find self-love. Now it may seem weird, that you falling out of love with me made me fall in love, but this time with myself. I’ve always been self-conscious, my own worst enemy, but you leaving made me realize that in order to truly love another person, I needed to first learn to love myself. You made me realize that I am good enough and that one day, someone will come along and realize that too. Even though you couldn’t be that someone for me, and it broke my heart, I’m glad you did. Without that heartbreak, I wouldn’t be standing here today, as strong as ever, ready to take on the world, and ready to love again.

So as weird as it may sound, thank you for breaking my heart. Thank you for breaking me down so I could grow again. Thank you for falling out of love with me, so that I can eventually fall in love with someone else, someone better for me, and I wish the same for you. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Sincerely,

The Girl Whose Heart You Broke, But Who’s No Longer Broken