I have always prided myself in having a kind heart. Anything I had to offer I would give to those around me without thinking twice. I've also always been a huge people pleaser. If someone asked me to do something – anything – I could always be counted on to do it. I honestly didn't know how to say "no" even when I probably should have. This combination of qualities lead to a life of me constantly wearing myself thin trying to keep everyone around me happy.

Without even realizing it, I was giving up such big parts of me. I had so much love in my heart for everyone in the world, but none left for myself. For such a long time I lived this way, convinced this was how everyone lived. Eventually, I found myself going through each day as if it were a set of tasks to be completed. Wake up. Go to class. Go to work. Give up another little piece of myself. Go to sleep, just to do it all over the next day. It was like I wasn't living, but simply existing. There was no way I could have gone on like that for much longer. One day I woke up and thought to myself: there has to be more to life than continuously handing out parts of me, just to come home at the end of the day, empty, broken, and having nothing left to give.

That was the day I decided to start choosing myself. It didn't happen all at once. But day by day, and piece by piece, I started collecting all the little bits of me I had lost. And I promised myself that this time I would keep them. I started truly making time for me again. I started reading just for fun, I stopped for coffees, and I went out with my friends.

Then I took even bigger steps. I let go of the toxic relationships in my life, I cut out all of the negativity, and I even learned to say "no" when I needed to. And I didn't even feel guilty about it.

Now don't get me wrong. I still love to help others. I still hand out second chances like they grow on trees. I will always be there for a friend in need. I just learned to start putting myself first sometimes. Because even though I couldn't see it for the longest time, I deserve it. I learned to choose myself and I haven't stopped smiling since.