To Every Person Who Has Ever Loved A Little ‘Too Hard’

Here’s to all the times you swam oceans for people who weren’t even willing to jump fences for you.

Here’s to all the times you apologized for his mistakes and all the apologies you never got. Here’s to all the sacrifices you made just to fit into his uncompromising schedule.

Here’s to all the sleepless nights with ice creams and vodka (sometimes together).

Here’s to the heartbreaks and the scars. Here’s to loving unconditionally.

Now it’s time to forgive yourself, not for loving that way but for letting them make you believe that your love was burdensome! Because let me tell you something, woman.

It takes a world of courage and strength to love with full knowledge of its risks.

I mean, come on! You leave your happiness in someone’s back pocket, trust them with your heart and willingly hand them the map of your body which shows everything from your happy place to where it hurts most. Duh! Aren’t you just a daredevil?

The problem was never you. The problem was you settled for less. How do you expect to dance with mists and drizzles, with an intensity that belongs in the eyewall of a hurricane?

How can you settle for sparks or candle lights when what you really desire is the kind of love that feels like a live wire?

You are made of love. So love with the intensity of a thousand suns. Don’t be afraid of being called “clingy”, possessive or needy. Those are just terms used as excuses by cowards.

You cannot let the hurt change you. You cannot let it douse the fire that burns inside of you. If you are to be loved in any way, you should be loved exactly the way you are.

So stop feeling sorry for yourself, jump out of your sad pajamas and close all the tabs on your laptop.

Yes, the countless articles you’ve been religiously reading about how to keep a man.

You don’t keep a man. He stays. And the only acceptable reason for his stay should be love.

Now if you’re out there thinking about following the all time favorite rule, which is “Do not be so available”, girl stop.

Playing hard to get only attracts fuck boys who take you up only as a challenge. And it always ends with the end of the chase.

Remember, love and relationship are not the same things. You can build a relationship with anything really, but love is never built on a foundation of games and lies. If you ever feel the need to play that game with someone, take my advice and run.

With a good man, there will never arise the need for games. With a good man, you will be yourself and not the version filtered by rules and guidelines from magazine articles. With a good man, you will never have to put a leash on your emotions or your love.

With a good man, you will be valued. You will be loved.

So forgive yourself for ever doubting your worth. Forgive yourself for thinking you were unlovable. Forgive yourself for the times you tried to smother your emotions because you thought you felt too much.

Forgive yourself for the times you threw away your pride and stooped so low because love was more important to you. And forgive them too. It’s time to stop calling them mistakes. It’s time to call them lessons.

So here’s to all the fools who let you go without a fight. Here’s to all the lessons they taught you. And here’s to the man, the lucky son of a gun, who’s going to put a ring on your finger and a claim on your love someday.