You drive by random neighborhoods all the time, hear different names, go through each day, and go through your normal routine and all of these have no significant meaning to your life. Until one day, you meet someone who adds significance to all those things. That house that you pass on the way to work every day, that's your boyfriend's house. The name of your coworker just so happens to be the same name as your new significant other. That day you crossed out on the calendar every year is now the anniversary of when you started dating. And those places you went grocery shopping, to the movies, or to the beach, those each all have special memories attached to them. And even though all this sounds so great and exciting, no one really tells you how bad it is when it all ends.

This was your life before you found this special person, but now, all you can think about on your way to work is why their truck wasn't in the driveway at 6 am this morning. Did they get a new job, are they seeing someone else, are they out of town? Or when you hear they're same for the for the first time in a while, you immediately turn around for the 1 of out a million chance that it may actually be them in the same building as you. That date on that calendar that you looked forward to, is now just another day to remind you that you are not together anymore. And the worst, your everyday routine has turned into an endless debate with yourself that you don't care if you see them and you wish you could run into them in the store just for one more quick, meaningless conversation. And as much as you will tell yourself and everyone else that you don't care, the truth is, you would still drop everything and help them if they needed you.

You'll go through every feeling that you could possibly imagine. Pain, anger, hatred, loneliness, denial, acceptance, guilt, and so much more. Nobody knew your relationship better than you, so honestly, all the advice and comfort you get won't mean anything to you until you are genuinely ready to hear it. You will question everything that you did and didn't do. What you could have done differently or where everything went wrong but in reality, neither of you did anything wrong. You shouldn't have to try so hard to make something "real" last. Love is easy. It's probably the easiest thing you will ever do because it's the one thing in your life you don't have to fight for. Don't try to hold onto someone, while waiting for the impossible to happen. Because it won't.

The world needs you to show up today. Your best friend needs you to be the one to give her advice again and your sister is waiting for you to be your happy self like you were. The pain that your feeling isn't going to last forever, even though that seems pretty hard to believe right now! But waking up realizing what you deserve and what you want is an overwhelming feeling of pure relief, that couldn't possibly ever be taken away from you! And most importantly don't ever let a bad relationship change who you are and never let it leave you broken enough that you forget how to love. Always love like it's the only thing you know how to do and I promise you, it will be worth it in the end!