Lauren Jarvis-Gibson

When you date a girl who knows how precious she is, please do not stomp on her heart. She trusts you. She hears your words and believes them. She feels your kisses, and believes in the power of your lips. She feels herself falling and trusts that you won’t drop her. Please don’t drop her.

It doesn’t matter if they are gone now. It just matters how they made you feel, and how they made you see yourself. It doesn’t matter if you never see them again. It just matters what they left inside of your soul.

Do not let a boy become the centerpiece of your life. Do not let a boy become more important than you are to yourself. And do not let a boy take your whole heart, while he gives you nothing in return.

You are pining after someone who has already left, someone who has stomped on your heart and has left you alone. You are pining after someone who has taken advantage of what you have to give. Who has taken advantage of the love that you offered them.

It comes out from hiding when you least expect it. It’s a ghost that you never invited inside your brain. It’s a skeleton in your closet, that won’t go away no matter how many times you smash it to pieces. It’s a monster under your bed, who comes out to play at the worst possible moments.

They will love every single part of you. And no matter how terrible you can act towards them, no matter what ugly words come flying out of your mouth, they will still love you. Despite it all.

The kind of love that we deserve is warm. The kind that covers us like a blanket, protecting us from the outside darkness. And we deserve the kind of love that feels like a cabin in the woods, the kind that shelters our heart and makes sure it feels held and wanted. We all deserve the kind of love that feels like a safe haven.

When you need someone to breathe, or to be happy in life, that isn’t love. That’s fear. That’s insecurity. That’s codependency. It’s not love at all.

Even if you don’t have someone to greet you as you walk into your home. Even if you don’t have someone to lay beside you as you fall asleep. Even if you don’t have someone to kiss you each morning. You aren’t alone. You have yourself. And you need to start treating yourself like someone worthy of loving.

Let your life be. Let your life slow down. Everything that you want will come when it needs to. And everything that will come your way, will happen when it is supposed to.

I think I really loved it though. Us. The idea that we would actually make it. The idea that maybe, just maybe, you’d be the one to make my sadness disappear. The idea that I could love someone.

Be patient with yourself. Give yourself credit for all that you have accomplished, and all that you are doing right this very second. Have faith, and have hope for your future self.

We can control the hope that we carry within our bones and our bloodstream. And we can try to smile. Despite the sadness, despite the tears, despite the deaths, and despite the tragedies. We can try our hardest, to just keep believing. And to try to be happy, despite the darkness.

Success doesn’t come easily. Happiness doesn’t come easily. Loving your life doesn’t happen in a day, or in a year. That’s why life was meant to be a coin toss. To shake you around until you finally find your place. To show you that failure will one day lead you to your destiny. And to show you that hard work, the dirty and exhausting work you are doing right now, will one day be all worth it.

Sometimes love is not enough to keep a relationship together. Do not let this make you become bitter.

Don’t shrink your brightness for a man. Don’t downsize your light. Don’t turn off your happiness for anyone. Be your own kind of beautiful. And be the kind of woman that you are proud of.

The only thing stopping you, is you. The only person pushing you to not do it, is you. The only person stopping you from accomplishing your goals, is you. So stop disappointing yourself. And do it.

I am done wearing myself down. I am done giving people my all, when I get nothing in return. I am done giving away my whole heart, when all I get back, is my soul torn to shreds.