Throughout the course of life, people go through ups and downs. Some people have it worse than others regarding the downs, but how you get back up is what truly defines you. Sometimes it is one defining moment that can break a person but, for others, little moments over months or years can lead a person to finally break. Bullying, abuse, and exhaustion are just a few reasons people break, but the list can go on and on.

So, to the people who caused me to break: Thank you. Thank you for showing me that not all people are like me, that people don't always have to be nice to you. I now know what the world is capable of. It knocks you down and sometimes you feel like you can't get back up. At moments you don't want to get back up, you would rather stay there instead of getting up and living in fear of getting knocked back down.

Thank you for pushing me to my limits and for testing me. Thank you for making me feel like absolute shit. I look back on that time in my life and I realize how much I have grown. I realize how wrong you were. Every hateful word that came from your mouth was you expressing your own insecurities. Obviously, at the moment, I had no idea of that and I thought this was actually how you felt towards me. I'm sorry you were fighting your own demons at the time.

The years you spent humiliating me were the worst of my life but I'm finally happy. Everything you said about me I have proven wrong, not for you, though. I did this all for me. Thank you for making me realize that I deserve to be happy. I don't care what others think of me anymore. I do what makes me happy. I spend time with people who make me happy. I surround myself with positivity. I'm through with being sad and angry. I have moved on from that time in my life. I have moved on from you.

Someone very special to me just recently told me "at the break the bone heals, but it heals to be stronger in that area. It's harder to break again, it can withstand more. Yes, the bone was damaged or broken but it became better than what it was before; stronger, more sturdy, and more prepared for the future". You may have broken me, but I am stronger now. I have people who truly care about me and want to see me happy. I hope you find your own happiness and that you are truly happy with yourself. Thank you for making me stronger. Thank you for preparing me for the future.

I forgive you.