It seems that every piece of popular literature is about falling in love, describing the terrifyingly beautiful feeling of being so in-tune with another person that you can hardly imagine life without them. But the reality is, even the people you love the most will disappoint you in one way or another at some point. However, there is one person whose actions are completely expected; this person is perhaps the one individual in life who you can completely rely on- yet we tend to love them less than everyone else in our lives. In fact, we are downright mean to them most of the time, constantly judging and picking out their flaws. They have the ability to be the best people this world has ever seen, but we constantly subject them to other people’s false judgments, and allow them to believe that what others say about them defines them. This person in our lives, the one person that we know better than anyone else, is ourselves. No significant other will be with us as long as we have been ourselves. No person knows our deepest secrets, insecurities, dreams and hopes like we do, and the select few that do have only been given this insight because we deemed them fit. So why is it, then, that we find professing love for others more natural than admitting love for ourselves?

Love the way you talk yourself off the cliff when life gets almost too much to handle.

Love the way you become a Pop star in the car and in the shower, when your favorite songs come on.

Love the way you laugh so hard no noise comes out.

The late night talks you have with the Man Upstairs when you forget it's not your plan it's His.

Fall in love with the way you panic when your sunglasses get stuck in your hair.

Love the way your silhouette falls on the curtain when you get out of the shower.

Fall head over heels for how your nose crinkles right before you sneeze.

Fall for your fear of love

Your fear of getting hurt again.

Love the way it's taking you longer than you hoped to get over them.

Love how strong you have become.

Fall in love with those old polaroids you keep under your pillow at night hoping that the memories will soak through and inhabit your dreams.

Love the way you tear up at the drop of a hat.

And that one section of hair that will undoubtedly be sticking up in every photo you take.

Love yourself for your character, your heart, your mind and soul.

You have so much going for you, why do you need to search for love any other place than within?

You hold every late night sound, warm breeze, and thunderstorm memory close to your heart because you see beauty in things most overlook. You find comfort in the silence, but you're terrified of being alone. You look small in a crowd but you never feel overlooked. You stop to take photos, even when it's unnecessary, just to ensure you don't miss a thing. You guard your heart, but when you do love, it's unconditional. You are more than your past, and limitless as your future. You're worth living for.