I bet it surprised you when she said no to you. You were so used to her being nice, so used to her saying yes to everything you asked for, that you had no idea this was going to happen. You thought that you could go away, have your fun and come back and she’d still be right there where you left her, her heart still full of love, relieved that you had finally come home to her.

It never occurred to you for one second that a love as special as hers, as giving, would be just what someone else wanted and moreso, appreciated. It never hit you that what she was giving you was precious because you just never saw it that way. You took her for granted and the truth is, your leaving told her everything that she wanted to hear. In the terrible silence that followed her heartbreak, she learned something important about herself.

She learned that she deserved her own love much more than you ever could deserve it. She was able to pick up the pieces of her heart that you scattered so carelessly when you left and build it into something beautiful and new. And this beautiful new thing does not look for love in the same place where it had lost it. Her heart beats now for her, and her alone.

Her love has grown deeper, purer, more mature and more resilient and she has learned that the most powerful thing she can do is give that love to herself. So you can try all you want to convince her to come back to you, but she’s busy building a new life for herself. She will burn every bridge that has your name on it, watch the flames kiss the wood so she never has to the cross the river back to you. When someone takes your love for granted, you take everything inside of you and you walk away. She’s learned how to love herself. She’s learned how you didn’t choose to love her.

And she’s stronger for it. She’s more powerful for it alone than having a love that takes her for granted ever again.