Thank you! In some way each of you has wronged me. If we’re being honest it was probably more than one way. I could sit here and hate you and let that hatred fester inside of me for the rest of my life, but I am not going to give you that kind of power. At one point in my life, you hurt me. Some of you hurt me way more than others and that’s not something that will be easily forgotten. I don’t want to forget what you did. Despite your intentions, every awful action you made against me actually made me a stronger, better, more motivated person. For that, I thank you. You taught me lessons I never would have learned otherwise. You’re the reason I found people I can truly call my best friends. They value my friendship and what I have to say and can make me laugh even when I’m sad. Here are a few other things I have to thank you for:

1. When someone continuously tears me down, the thing that will anger them most is seeing me unaffected by it.

2. Friends come and go and if someone isn’t being a good friend, they aren’t worth the time.

3. I can’t save friendships that have become one-sided.

4. If I feel worse about myself after hanging out with someone, I probably shouldn’t hang out with them.

5. Competing with your friends can be fun. When you start wishing for them to fail, it’s time to stop because it’s no longer healthy competition, nor is it a friendship.

6. Not everyone will like me.

7. People will hate me without reason sometimes.

8. Life isn’t fair. You won’t always get a reasonable teacher. Sure, you may have had a 105℉ fever, but that doesn’t mean the teacher won’t cap the score you can get on the test you make up the next day at 33% and royally screw you over.

9. Real friendships are hidden gems worth the wait.

10. People who reach out to you and tell you how much you mean to them are the ones you should hold onto for as long as possible.

11. People will always point out your flaws. They will rarely mention your success.

12. Dance teacher, coach, professor, parent, boss, etc. may never tell you you’re doing a good job when you meet and surpass their expectations. In that case it’s up to you to tell yourself you’re doing well and celebrate.

13. People may judge me for my decision to leave, but it made me so much happier and my happiness is way more important than a few “friends” who didn’t support me.

14. Now I know I’m stronger than I thought I was.

15. I can be my own savior and ally.

16. Words are just words and sometimes imagining a dragon eating the person saying them can make it easier to stand there and listen without bursting into tears.

17. Your harshest critics can secretly be your biggest cheerleaders.

18. Not everyone will play nice. People will be two-faced and convince you of something with an ulterior motive. You may not realize how it benefitted them until later, but when you do you will feel stupid. Let go of that feeling. You aren’t stupid and there is a reason for everything.

19. Giving up on yourself doesn’t punish the person who wronged you. It gives them more power.

20. Hating someone who hurt me doesn’t do any good unless it’s hurting them. I am in no way encouraging revenge! They are going to go about their lives unaware of my hating them for the most part and instead of using my time and energy to better the world or have fun I will carry around the weight of hating them. All that time I spend crying about what they said or did, hating them for it, and being mad could be spent playing with puppies or laughing. I don’t know about you, but I much prefer puppies and laughter to crying and anger.

I could sit here and hate you, but instead I’m going to thank you. You tried to hurt me, but ended up helping me. I wouldn’t be who I am today without you being the awful person you are, or at least were to me. Your actions are by no means excused. However, harboring hate for you wouldn’t hurt you, it would just be more of my time and energy being wasted on you. You aren’t worth it. Thank you for the

life lessons and being a growth experience for me. You’ve served your purpose in my life. You are no longer needed here. I hope your life is full of happiness. Stay away from mine.