There might be days when you feel weak, when you feel like you’re on the edge of a meltdown, when you feel like you cannot take this any longer, when you feel like everyone has the wrong idea about you.

Your friends and family and strangers on the internet might think you’re strong, but that’s only because they haven’t seen the real you. They haven’t seen your vulnerable side. They haven’t seen you breaking down crying in the middle of the bathroom. They haven’t seen you crawl back to exes who have hurt you or get disgusted by your own reflection. They haven’t seen you at your lowest, at your darkest, at the end of your rope.

Because they weren’t there for all of your most miserable moments, you might think they’re wrong about how strong you are — but they’re not. You are strong. Much stronger than you think. Much stronger than you will ever know.

You’re strong because you’ve allowed yourself to feel, to worry, to be vulnerable, to spill your heart out, to cry your eyes out, to scream into pillows and wipe away smeared mascara. You might think those things show weakness, but that’s not the case. It takes strength to be honest about your emotions instead of locking them deep down inside. It takes strength to express yourself. It takes strength to care.

You’re strong because you have been through a lot of shit but you’re still standing, still breathing, still fighting, still here. Maybe you feel broken. Maybe you feel bruised. But you’re alive.

You’re strong because even on your darkest days you’ve found reasons to keep going, to keep hoping, to keep holding on, to keep believing tomorrow is going to have something better in store for you than yesterday.

You’re strong because this world can be a brutal place. People aren’t always kind. Situations are not always fair. Life is not always easy. You’ve been dealt a few bad hands throughout the last few years but you’ve kept going anyway, you’ve kept chugging forward, you’ve kept going, kept going, kept going. And that, on its own, shows you exactly how strong you are.

You’re strong because you have baggage, you have flaws, you have a million reasons to get upset, to back down, to give up, but you’ve never quit. You’ve never lost complete faith in yourself. You might be more cynical than you used to be when you were younger, you might have unshakable insecurities, but there’s still a part of you that believes in your own potential. That’s why you’re here right now. Because, deep down, you know your worth. You know you deserve happiness. You know you deserve success. And you know going to get it soon.

You’re strong because you’ve made it this far. Despite all of the bad things you’ve been through, despite the heartaches and losses, despite the traumas and horrors, you’ve made it until today. And you’re going to be able to make it until tomorrow, too.