The Five Rules Of Heartbreak

i. do not lose yourself in trying to keep someone who doesn’t want to be kept, someone whose heart yearns for more than what yours could offer. do not lose yourself in trying to find someone who doesn’t want to be found; in staying for someone who never does.

ii. it’s okay to leave, to be the one who chose not to stay; to be the one who chose to let go. it’s okay. there’s only so much of you they can take. there’s only so much of you and it’s time you keep some for yourself.

iii. maybe it’s time that you stop looking for a home in places, in people and in moments and accept that no matter how bruised and scarred you are; that no matter how broken your heart is – you are a home; your heart is your home and you deserve to be loved nonetheless.

iv. breathe. take long, deep breaths. fill your lungs with life. breathe, even if you feel like it would rip your insides apart. breathe, even if it feels like it would split your chest wide open. breathe, even as your body shakes from the weight of life settling in the spaces in your lungs. take a breath, no matter how scared you are to. remember, sometimes, you have to feel pain to know that you are alive.

v. darling, your heart may be broken; you may have drowned in your tears and slept through your nightmares wide awake; you may feel as if your body’s no longer yours, that things may not feel the way they used to, that people are no longer who they seemed to be, that you are no longer who you were before; you may feel as if love no longer suits you. but it does. you deserve all the love. you deserve to be loved. you deserve to love, still.