I am the kind of person who wears her heart on her sleeve.

When I love, I love hard, and I love others the way I have always wanted to be loved back. There are times when my emotions have gotten the best of me, and my heart has been broken so badly to the point where I wondered if feeling nothing was better than feeling this much pain. Recently I came to a realization: it is hard to have your expectations met when you know you would move mountains for someone, only to have them give you an inch in return.

I know what it is like to cry yourself to sleep at night, to make yourself sick from anxiety, and to miss someone so much that your heart aches at the slightest memory of them. But I also know what it is like to laugh uncontrollably at the smallest things, to cry at happy endings because they warm your heart, and to always choose to see the good in humanity even when you're given every reason not to. I don't hold grudges and maybe I forgive people a little too easily, but I have always believed that this world could use more people who choose to look at the class half full.

I once loved someone who made me feel guilty for sharing my feelings. Now nearly every time I tell someone how I feel, I apologize out of habit as if my emotions are now their burden. We live in a society where we are taught that vulnerability is a sign of weakness. Men aren't supposed to cry, women are supposed to be easy going, and we tend to feel like we always have to keep it together. I am guilty of pretending. Pretending to keep it together because I'm too ashamed to ask for help, pretending to live this perfect life on social media, and pretending to be ok with the worst kind of love - the kind of love that makes you feel like you are lesser than.

To all of the women out there who feel like they feel too much, who are settling for mediocrity because they feel undeserving of something better, and who feel guilty for being anything but easy going, you are beautiful AND lovable just the way you are. Trust me, I know that it is easier said than done. I am still learning to stick up for myself and my feelings. While I have always taken pride in my ability to eloquently explain how I feel, I am still learning that expressing myself shouldn't end with an apology.

I am not ashamed to love with my whole heart because even though my heart's been broken, I know that one day I will find someone who can love me as unconditionally in return. So the next time you feel like you can't take the pain, remember that there is so much beauty in emotion, in who you are, and in who you are continuing to become.

Just because someone can't love you as much as you love them, doesn't mean that you should learn to love any less.