11 Reminders For Humans With Broken Hearts

You didn’t get your heart broken because you were too stupid to see the red flags. You got your heart broken because you were brave enough to put yourself out there, to open yourself up, to take a risk on someone special. You got your heart broken because you were brave enough to care.

When you raise your walls higher, you’re purposely keeping other people at a distance, so they never have a chance to plunge a dagger in you. This might sound like the perfect form of protection, but in the process, you’re caging yourself. The bars around your heart are stopping the pain, certainly, but they’re also barring you in place. They’re stopping you from deepening your relationships, forming new connections, and meeting the most authentic version of yourself. They’re a prison of your own creation, and it’s up to you to tear it down.

You are not a backup plan. You are not a plan B. You are not an inconvenience. And you should never let someone treat you that way.

If someone only cares about you half the time, they don’t care enough. You deserve their whole heart, not a fraction of it. If they’re only able to give you a piece of what you need, then they aren’t what you need at all.

Having history with someone doesn’t mean you should have a future with them. You aren’t obligated to keep people in your life, simply because you’ve known them a long time. You don’t owe them your loyalty.

Miss them from afar. Miss them from your own home. But don’t trick yourself into believing walking away from them was a mistake or they deserve another chance. You left for a reason. Don’t insult the past-you by talking to this person again. You can miss them, but that doesn’t mean you should speak with them.

You don’t give yourself enough credit for opening up your heart in the first place. You should be proud of yourself for refusing to harden your heart when this world keeps giving you more and more reasons to raise your walls. Your emotional resilience is something you should be proud of. It’s so much easier to lock your heart away, so doing the opposite takes strength.

Your heart is more durable than you might think. It can handle more than you realize.

Falling in love is beautiful. Don’t let your heartbreak take away from that fact. Even for a short while, you were able to experience what it was like to care for another person. There were good parts to your experience, too.

Love is always a risk. But it’s one worth taking.

Your broken heart is going to heal. It might not be tomorrow, or anytime soon, but it will happen eventually. You are going to feel okay again. You need to trust that you are strong enough to endure this pain until it starts to fade. You’ve done it before. You can accomplish it again.