Learn how to walk away if you’re the only one making the effort. If you’re the only one trying and if it leaves you feeling like you’re not good enough every time you stay but your feelings are not reciprocated.
Learn how to walk away when someone starts mistreating you or starts disrespecting you. When someone starts to show you that they don’t value you or your opinions. When they underestimate your intelligence. Walk away when someone can’t give you what you’re looking for.
Learn how to walk away when you have to force something to happen, when you have to force communication, care and love. When you have to force a person to realize what they could lose. Walk away from anyone who doesn’t care about losing you.
Learn how to walk away when you feel like something is off. When you have to convince yourself to stay, when you have to fake it because it’s better than being alone, when you have to lie about what you are to your friends and family. Walk away when you see the truth — don’t waste your time trying to fix what’s already broken.
Learn how to walk away when you’ve given more than one chance but nothing seems to change, learn how to walk away when you feel like you’ve been taken for granted time and time again. Learn how to walk away when staying makes you love yourself a little less.
Learn how to walk away because if you don’t, they will. It’s only a matter of time before someone who doesn’t love you or respect you walks away from you and that shouldn’t be something you fear because for every person who leaves, there are tons more wanting to stay, capable of loving you better — capable of loving you the way you want to be loved.
Learn how to walk away because walking away saves you from heartbreak, it saves you from prolonging something that’s not meant to last, it saves you from the pain of finding things out that might hurt you, it saves you from getting cheated on, it saves you from being one of many and it saves you from the selfish games people play when they try to keep you in their lives without committing to you.
Learn how to walk away — not everyone is worth staying for. 
Rania Naim is a poet and author of the new book All The Words I Should Have Said, available here.
