Be the type of woman who doesn’t need a man to be happy. Be the type of woman who doesn’t need a man to feel satisfied. Be the type of woman who doesn’t ever need a man to breathe clearly.

You do not need someone else to conquer your fears, to take those leaps and those chances, and to make your dreams come true. You do not need someone else to hold your hand while you navigate the strongest currents and the most blazing summers. You do not need someone else to shine as brightly as you already do.

You just need you.

Be the type of woman who finds worth in herself without validation from other people. Be the type of woman who loves herself without needing love from anyone else. And be the type of woman who never chases someone who isn’t chasing her back.

Stop burning yourself and hurting yourself for people who do not love you. Stop putting so much weight onto your shoulders, that isn’t your pain to hold onto. Stop running after people who don’t even look up when they hear your footsteps pounding on the pavement. And stop putting other people before yourself.

You don’t need him or her. You don’t need them to stand beside you in order for you to stand tall. You stand tall on your own. You grow on your own. You don’t need his roots and his strength and his nourishment.

You already have that strength inside of you.

You don’t need a man to survive. You don’t need anybody to make that smile shine brighter. You don’t need someone else to make your life more powerful, more meaningful, and more beautiful.

Do not sell yourself short.

You do not need him, even though you think you do. You don’t need his love or his validation to have a better and more purposeful life. You don’t need his hands and his lips and those eyes.

His love is not the most important thing in the universe. His love is not more important than you.

Give yourself more credit. Prove to yourself that you don’t need to be in love to have a happy and healthy life. Prove to all of them that you are better off without someone who left. Prove to yourself that your heart still beats with meaning without his hand on your chest. Prove to yourself that yes, you can survive without him.

And show yourself that you will not only survive without him, but you will flourish.

You were not meant to be held down by someone else’s leaving. You were not meant to be so caught up in what you don’t have, when you have so so much. Don’t let his love define you. And don’t let his leaving destroy you.

You don’t need him after all.

Prove to yourself that you are just as worthy and lovable and wonderful without someone else standing by your side.