The Strength In Our Scars

You are the one
who built your walls.

Don’t ever doubt for a second
that you have the capacity
to tear them down.

The things that hurt you
may have left scars,
but they did not destroy you.
You survived,
and there is hope in that.

No, sometimes courage isn’t a big declaration, a common accomplishment. Sometimes courage is the way you slowly comb them out of your hair; sometimes courage is hearing their voice in public and not turning your head or having your stomach feel like a shaken-up can of soda. Sometimes courage is smiling for your younger sister when your heart is breaking; sometimes it’s telling her that love exists even on the days you simply don’t believe it does.

There are people who will show up for you and care for you.

There is more to life than the person who walked away from you.

I think it’s brave that you get up in the morning when your heart aches and life is messy and you do not feel like being soft for the world.

Be too much. Care too much. Hope too much. Give too much.

And above all else—

I hope whatever you love, loves you back.

See, if the answer is no, then maybe what you had was not love; maybe it was a lesson.

Sometimes, the greatest act of self-love is simply allowing yourself to be loved by others. Sometimes, the greatest act of self-love is simply allowing yourself to be seen in all that you are.