Lauren Jarvis-Gibson

You just gave up. You gave up when I needed you the most. You gave up when I loved you the most. You gave me up and you gave ‘us’ up. And for what? I’ll never know.

You need to let him go because he’s not worthy of the love you give him. He’s not worthy of the lust you give him. He’s not worthy of being in your head all day long.

I woke up today and didn’t think of you. I woke up, and didn’t wish you were there. I woke up, and didn’t feel the usual tiny hole in the pit of my stomach that liked to gnaw on my subconscious during the night. I woke up, and your name didn’t even cross through my head.

Your 20’s are about failing, dusting yourself off, and trying all over again. They are about losing people along the way, and gaining new people in your life. They are about learning how to navigate yourself along the uneven pavement sometimes by yourself, and sometimes with the help of your friends.

You focus on what you don’t have instead of what you do have – By putting yourself down and comparing yourself to other in regards to what they have and what you don’t have, you are truly ruining your ability to see how awesome you are. Try to focus on the things you have already accomplished and the positive aspects of your life

Because in the end, you won’t be telling your grandchildren about your awesome salary, or the Mercedes Benz you got to buy when you were 24. No, you’ll tell them about the people you met in Australia, or Thailand. You’ll tell them about finally landing the job of your dreams and moving to the city you always wanted to live in.

You don’t ‘have time to date’. I’m sorry but that’s not a valid excuse. If you have time to sit on your ass and watch Netflix by yourself at midnight, you have time to go for drinks with a stranger and you certainly have time to play the field.

Be selfish about your current job. Take advantage of your skills and assets, and quit the job that is making you miserable. Do not stay out of comfort or just because you think it’s the right thing for you to do. Be selfish in what job you apply for and what jobs you accept.

You need to wait for the girl with kindness etched on every inch of her heart. With boldness and strength marked on her scars, and with confidence and self-worth written on her imperfections.

They are scared to lose control of their emotions. Love is scary for anyone, but for someone with this mental illness, it’s even more so frightening.

Know that this illness does not make them weak. Know that it doesn’t make them crazy or unstable. Please just love them for who they are, and that includes the bad parts too. Just love them as they are.

Seeing their face go from crumpled to comforted will make you see that it’s not about the struggle or the tragedy. It’s about the healing. And you were a part of that. You were a big part of that.

Being single is a time of growth and a time of change, not a time of self-pity. Being single isn’t anything to look down upon. Being single is living your life according to you and on your own terms. Being single is being able to be alone, and not feel an ounce of loneliness.

You never thought that you would lose yourself while loving someone else. You never thought that you’d be the one who wanted to die without this person. Who couldn’t breathe without their love. Who would rather sleep all day than to face the sun without them by your side.

Wait for the person who becomes your ‘person’. Who you can trust with your whole soul. And you can deeply adore, more than you ever thought was possible. Wait for the person who becomes not only your lover, but your best friend.

Don’t be stupid. If a loved one asks for reassurance and help with a fear that they have, don’t act like their question isn’t important. Please do not undermine the level of severity that anxiety can have on people and don’t treat them like they are children.

Anxiety is not just you being lazy or having a poor work ethic. It’s feeling like a fire is burning in your heart as soon as people ask you what your five year plan is. It’s feeling like a failure. All the time.

Would you tell someone with a broken leg, to stop overreacting and to ‘just keep walking’? Would you tell someone with cancer to ‘just smile’ and to ‘let it go’? Would you tell someone with MS or with chronic pain to ‘just relax and stop being so dramatic’? I don’t think so.