I understand how you feel.

You love harder, you give your all, and hurt more deeply than most. We’ve all been there before, but the unfortunate truth about relationships is that there is always going to be someone who cares more. If there wasn’t, no one would get proposed to or be surprised by spontaneous acts of kindness.

Being the person who always cares more isn’t fun; it’s just plain exhausting. Many people believe that the person who cares more always loses—in all honesty, that is bullshit. The person who cares more wins in so many ways and gains more than the person who decided not to match the effort that you were selflessly offering to them.

The person who cares less misses out on much more than you. They give up the opportunity to build strong relationships, they miss out on the feeling of burning passion, and they don’t get to experience the full spectrum of emotions our lives are meant to be filled with.

Who wants a significant other who doesn’t seem to care for them, and why does our society believe that being detached is in the same category as “winning?" Don’t be heartless, don’t be careless with others hearts, and don’t let your past make you cold.

Be the person who cares more. Be the person who answers calls, messages, and tells the people around them how important they are to you every moment that you can. Be the person who is there for their family, friends, and significant others when they need you, and take pride in being the individual they can depend on. Be the person who leaves people better than they found them.

I promise you, you will never look back on your life and regret loving the people around you with all your heart—but you will regret caring less. You will regret having someone who you can fully rely on, and not returning all they gave to you. If you are the person who cares less, don’t waste that person’s time.

No one deserves that unfulfilling feeling of someone half-loving you—and quite frankly, no one wants that either.

Our world does not need more people who don’t care. Today, more than ever, our world needs love, passion, and people who give a shit about others. It’s infinitely more desirable to be the dancer on the stage forgetting every single move than being the person in the curtains too frightened to try. Being the one who cares more may lead to disappointment, but that feeling justifies that you tried.

Maybe the first time being the one who cared more failed you, but you get back up, dust yourself off, and learn and grow from every experience. Despair is showing you that you lived, and you tried, and you learned. Without all of our emotions we are just dead weight. We are alive, but we aren’t living.