This is me choosing to stay.

This is me choosing to try again. This is me acknowledging we are not perfect; you are not perfect, I am not perfect. This is me accepting that we are each made of flaws held together with the glue of good intent. This is me knowing that we have both fallen and failed before, and it may happen again. This is me choosing to get up, dust myself off with one hand, and pull you back to your feet with the other.

This is me choosing to stay.

This is me choosing myself. This is me choosing to follow my own heart, my own beliefs. People who care for you will want you to choose what they think is best for you. People who do not care for you will want you to choose what they think is not best for you. This is me understanding that we are each uniquely hard-wired individuals, spectacularly distinct humans who think, feel, act and choose differently. This is me understanding that what feels right for someone else may not also be right for me. This is me accepting that when I choose to stay, other people may not understand, they may think it is wrong—and that is okay.

This is me choosing to stay.

This is me choosing love. This is me accepting that when I tried to stop loving you, it felt wrong. This is me knowing that I love you without hope or agenda. This is me giving you my heart without expecting yours in return. This is me understanding that you might break it into pieces; this is me choosing that risk, over and over again. This is me loving you unconditionally; this is me loving you because I know no other way.

This is me choosing to stay.

This is me choosing you. This is me seeing you for who you are, not how you look; this is me seeing your awe-inspiring mind, your beautiful heart. This is me understanding that you still may leave. That one day you might get up and go, you might walk away, you might disappear with no explanation. This is me accepting that that choice is yours to make. I cannot beg, borrow or steal your presence; I cannot keep something that does not want to be kept. This is me knowing that you, and only you, are worth all of these unknowns.

This is me choosing to stay.

This is me hoping that you will choose to stay, too.