We settle sometimes. We settle for crappy jobs and unsatisfying lives. We settle for ‘average.’ We settle for ‘ok.’ We settle for relationships that don’t make us feel alive and people that don’t fill our hearts with joy.

We settle for less than we deserve.

But enough is enough.

Life is too short to be with someone who doesn’t make your whole body sing with happiness. It’s too short to give the wrong guy a chance. It’s too damn short to stay with someone who hurt you because you’re afraid you won’t find love again.

If he hurt you, he doesn’t deserve you. It’s as simple as that.

He made his decision. He made his choice. And maybe it wasn’t intentional, but the damage is done and there’s no going back. When he hurt you, he took a tiny piece of your heart with him. But it’s time to claim it back. No longer will you go through life with an aching heart. No longer will you feel unsatisfied, unhappy, unloved, un-whole.

You deserve love—big, real, pure love. A love that doesn’t hurt the way it does with him.

It’s time to cut ties with what doesn’t grow you, help you, build you, and make you shine. It’s time to leave this man in your past, because better things are coming. I promise.

I promise that there will be other men—men, not boys—who will love you with their whole heart. I promise that you’ll find someone who thinks the sun rises and sets with your presence, who will smile unconsciously at the thought of you, who will beam with pride at the mention of your name.

You deserve that kind of love.

The man who hurt you? He’s not worthy of all the chances you’re giving him. You keep dragging it out, putting yourself out there, hoping he’ll change. But if you have to try to get someone to change, you’re already at a loss. Because people only change for themselves. Not for someone else, even someone as special as you.

But there’s nothing wrong with you. It was just the wrong guy, the wrong situation, the heartbreak that you didn’t deserve. Don’t hang your head. Don’t lose your smile. You’re too damn pretty to beat yourself up over a lost relationship. You’ll find someone better; I promise.

I promise that there’s no use holding onto someone who doesn’t love you with a passion, who doesn’t make you giddy with excitement, who has hurt you in the past.

You will find someone better than the man who hurt you. And he will love you in ways bigger and more beautiful than you ever imagined.

So close your eyes and gather your strength. It’s time to push back against unfair treatment, against an unsatisfying life, against a relationship that is only hurting you.

Life is too damn short to be unhappy.
And you, you deserve happiness.