I want you to listen to me clearly – things do not get better straight away.

They always take time.

Moving on from hurtful experiences can take days, weeks, months and even years. It’s not easy, and it’s not something you can come through from overnight. You have to be patient with your heart and be gentle to your soul.

But don’t read this and get scared. Don’t think that you will never be okay again. Don’t worry about the future or let yourself get torn over what happened in the past. Just think about your present. Think about what you need to do now to get out of the black hole that you find yourself in.

Because life is hard and moving on is sometimes the most difficult thing to do. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t eventually reach the peak where you breathe in and all you feel is calmness, because you will reach this peak – where you always wanted to be.

Give yourself space and as much time as your heart needs.

Healing is messy, and life is like a long school day; where you keep acquiring new information and continue to have experiences, take lessons and absorb different kinds of sadness and joy with you as you propel forward. And sometimes you feel heavy, as though you have shackles around your ankles and a boulder of regrets on your shoulders. And sometimes, your soul feels gentle and your heart beats like a soft breeze.

But you do not get better instantly, especially when you experience heartbreak, lose friends or live in a broken home. Especially when you experience the kind of grief where you empty out the contents of all your life’s happiness into an ocean of despair and you do not know how to come out from it.

Things take time and believe me when I say that this time could be anywhere between weeks to years – so, please be tender with yourself. You will get to where you’re meant to be one day. But remember, you always get the happiness that you deserve when you’re meant to. Not when it’s too early and not when it’s too late, only when the time is right.