My parents met when they were 14-years-old. My mom was a cheerleader, my dad was a football player, and they became high school sweethearts. Following a small breakup, they carried over into being college sweethearts and my dad proposed during my mom's senior year of college. And, like a classic love story, they got married, had me and my two brothers, and are living happily ever after. Because of this, I lived most of my younger years believing that this was the norm. I didn't know how rare my parent's situation was, I didn't know that you most likely won't marry the guy you date in high school. I wanted what my parents had. I wanted to say that I met my husband in high school and we have loved each other ever since. That is when I started my horrible habit of: settling.

Now I'm not going to go into detail of every high school relationship I've had- I'll spare you (and me) the torment. But I will say this: I was a little pathetic. I know that sounds harsh to say about myself but I put up with way more than I would ever put up with now. I once dated a boy who cheated on me more times than I can count on my 10 fingers and continued to take him back because I was trying to make my own love story work. I settled and I dealt with way more than I deserved throughout my high school years because I was scared to be alone. It was like I almost didn't know how to be alone.

It wasn't until my freshman year of college that I took it upon myself to realize: I NEED to be alone. All those years I was trying to make things something that they weren't because I was so stuck on wanting what my parents had, and I ended up losing a part of myself along the way. Don't get me wrong, I had a general concept on who I was and what my morals were. However, I needed time to think for nobody but myself. It was the healthy thing to do. I needed that time to have fun with my friends, and not think about boys and relationships. In that time, I had gained way more knowledge that I had in my four years of high school. I finally had understood what I had been doing wrong the whole time. I finally understood that I had been settling.

That was when I knew it was okay to be picky. It was okay to not like something about someone; it was okay to walk away when you felt like you weren't being treated fairly. I had been asked on a couple dates towards the end of the semester and I went into them with an open mind. However, the first dates had been as far as I had gotten. I'm not going to lie, it was super frustrating. The thought crossed my mind that maybe I was being too picky. But I continued to be content with being alone and figuring myself out. Eventually I hadn't paid the thought of relationships much attention, and that is when everything seemed to fall in place. I had met someone, and, boom: I actually liked him. (Imagine that.) We clicked and all those years of settling with people had finally made sense as to why they never worked out.

Trust me, I am not a guru on relationships. (Trust me.) But I know this much: It is okay to be picky. When you are trying to find someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, you have the right to choose that person wisely. However, there is a difference between being picky and being close-minded. If you are not willing to compromise on certain things, you are in for a rude awakening. Odds are, you are not going to find someone that checks every single tiny thing off of your checklist. But, with an open mind and the will to compromise, you can find someone that comes pretty damn close.

The moral of this story is that not everyone's love story is the same. Not everyone meets in high school when they're barely teenagers, like my parents, and lives happily ever after. I learned that the hard way. But, you will find your own little love story when you learn not to settle for someone less than what you really deserve.