Why do you stay?

Just give me one reason why.

It's one nasty remark after another. The verbal abuse is worse than physical. It's so easy to judge from the outside. They just don't get it.

It's one more drink and I'll quit for you. That never truly stays. It's the false hope that tears your heart out piece by piece. They just don't get it.

It's another time you say she meant nothing. They come and go and you believe it won't happen again. Then you get to the point where you just keep your mouth shut. You know he comes home to you. They just don't get it.

It's one more time he lets you know that you are nothing without him. You forget who you once were before you ever met him. You start to think that there is nothing better out there for you. They just don't get it.

They don't get why you can't leave. They don't get why you hold on to every hope that this time will be the last time. This time will be when it all changes. You have so much love for that person that you think that you can't give up because then that shows you don't love them.

What if I said you could leave?

What if I said leaving means you do love them?

What if I said I get it?

I get it because I've been there. I know what it's like to feel like I can't walk away. To be cheated on. To be lied to. To be run out on. To be used up. I got through it. Slowly. I put one foot in front of the other and never looked back. However, I wasn't able to escape overnight. It didn't happen in weeks. It didn't even happen in months. I didn't go and find a new lover. I didn't have to go and get "under" someone.

I had to find myself. I had to learn who I was again. I had to learn what it was like to stand on my own two feet. I began to love myself, and I began to realize what I can offer this world. I don't have to depend on someone in order to feel confident. I had to look in the mirror and love the person who was looking back. I stopped allowing his voice to ring through my head and tell me who I am. I learned no other woman could offer what I could offer and that there is someone out there that will take me for what I am, just as I am. I refused to let the alcohol become more than me for someone who had their own problem. I had to learn that some people have their own baggage in this world that has nothing to do with me, just their own inner demons.

I know how it feels to think you can't leave. Sometimes staying is worse than leaving. I won't tell you I know exactly how you feel. Every person feels differently. but what I can tell you is that you are worth it. I promise when you discover yourself, stop worrying about the past, and become happy again, you will attract a better match. Don't stay with someone because you think he or she is the best you can do. Don't stay with someone whose words of "I love you" never match his actions.

Walk away.