I know you. You're the girl sitting home alone, hugging her pillow and wondering why it seems like no one around her can even begin to understand her, why anyone would even try. You're the one crying in your car, gripping the steering wheel and trying to find reasons to keep going, to keep struggling. You're walking with your head down, hiding your tears until you can be alone at night and safely break down, where there's no one to see you but also no one to help you.

I know you because I was you. All of that pain, confusion, fear and anger you're feeling right now, I felt it. I spent too many nights alone, feeling like my heart was just too big for the world it was given, wishing that I could be anywhere other than where I was. Trying to reach out for someone, anyone, to help me but drawing back into myself once I realized no one could. Wishing that it would all just end because I was sure it would never get better.I know the ache in your heart it causes to feel like you have so much to offer, but no way to use it. Or that you have so much love to give, but no one who deserves it. Or that you're so trapped in a place where you can't be yourself, that you wonder how you'll ever get to find out who you could be.

I want you to know that you're not alone. That you're never alone. I know it sounds cliché, I know you've been told that a million times and you probably want to write me off as just another person who doesn't understand. But I do. So trust me when I say, that even though you don't see it, even though you feel so misunderstood and hopeless, there are people out there who look at you and see the person they think hung the moon and stuck the stars right up there into the sky. People who have a special place for you in their heart, who need your light to keep themselves going.

So I want you to keep going. I know you don't want to. But on behalf of the world that is so big and beautiful and crazy outside of your own struggles, I want you to know that we're lucky to have you. Yes, you. Someone who is smart, (even though it doesn't feel that way) courageous, (even though you don't see how you are) beautiful, (even though you don't think you are) but most importantly someone who has something so unique to offer the world. The thing is, you're special. You're irreplaceable. You have a fire burning inside you that everyone around you can see. If you didn't, you wouldn't feel this way, so misunderstood and trapped. But the miraculous thing is, once you learn how to let that fire burn, the light will glow bright enough to light up not just your world, but everyone's world who crosses paths with you.

I know. You're lost, you're hurting, you're scared and you're anxious. You can't see far enough into the future to find any reason that it would be worth it to stay here. I've been where you are, and when I was, I didn't think I had any reason to keep going. Whether it was because of people who hurt me and pushed me down or simply because of my own demons battling it out in my head, I didn't want to try anymore. I've felt what you're feeling, but I want you to know I'm glad that I kept going. I've made memories that the girl I used to be sat in bed and dreamed about through messy tears and a cracked open heart because I chose to pick myself up and continue on. But I wasn't nearly as strong as you are, as I know you can be.

I know that I'm just a stranger to you. Just an empty name attached to an unfamiliar face in a picture, typing words that I hope you'll read. But I want you to know that I believe in you. That I know, in the deepest part of my heart and most confident part of my soul, that everyone is put on this earth for a reason, and I'm asking you to stick around so that you can figure out what yours is, and so that the rest of us can be lucky enough to find out too. I know you're under-appreciated. I know you haven't found yourself yet, and that you don't have faith you'll ever be able to. But you will, and it will be remarkable.

I promise you. One day, you will find yourself surrounded by people who love you so deeply that it shines through everything they do, and everything you feel. You will be happy, secure and you will know who you are. The stars will shine bright in the sky and you'll be happy to see the sun come up each morning. You'll look back at that girl who held onto her tear-stained pillow so tightly, and you'll be thankful that she was strong enough to keep going. Her strength is what built you, is what made you the person you are today and for that, you will be so thankful. You'll look back on all of this pain and fear, and it will simply be tough times that built the foundation for everything you've ever wanted to be, and you will be glad.