“Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you have to give up what weighs you down.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

It can be tough to always keep your head up after going through the thoughts of, "Why did this happen to me?" and "This just isn't fair." You possibly even asked yourself, "What did I do to deserve this?" My answer to these questions is simple. You are not at fault. You are not the one to blame. And you can grow from this hardship to bloom into a bigger and better person than ever before.

Often these ideas result from wrong doings of a significant other (SO). There are times that our hearts get broken and we wish we could go back to change things from the past. However, as the saying goes, everything happens for a reason. If someone does not have the decency to realize how truly special, caring, loving, and incredible you are, they do not deserve your time. If someone repeatedly hurts you and plays with your emotions, they are not the one for you. If someone continues to lie to you or others about the relationship or other aspects, they are not good for you.

A relationship should make you smile when you think about it. You should get butterflies when you see your SO for the first time that day (even if it is just over FaceTime). You should want to be wrapped in a huge bear hug and never want to let go. There is a beautiful thing in these moments.

When you are around them, you should feel free and calm, not closed-off and scared. This should be a relationship where you do not lose who you are as a person for your SO. Together, you should make each other better than ever.

I'm not trying to portray a storybook relationship, just a healthy one. You can get upset with one another. You can feel like you didn't do enough to help them. You can feel like you did too much and even got in the way. However, at the end of the day, you should feel good about the relationship you are in. You deserve to be happy. If you aren't happy, you fully have the right to move on and make changes.

The moral of the story is this: You are an incredible person and you deserve someone who can make you an even more incredible person (if that is even possible). You should be with the person who loves you for you, not someone who loves this part of you that they created in their mind. You deserve the person who cares about you and your well-being. You deserve the person who checks up on you when you are sick and makes sure you have taken your medicine. You should be with the person that makes you happier than ever before (even if they stress you out at times). You should be with the person that supports you and cares a great deal about you. Finding this person might be tough, but there are over 7 billion people in this world. Therefore, I fully believe that you will find the person that you deserve.

Keep your head up, keep a smile on your face, and never settle for less than you deserve.