In the past, I have been very guilty of settling. I can apply this to many aspects in my life, including past relationships, my health, school, among others. However, I refuse to settle on anything any longer. I went through what was probably the worst thing I could have experienced in my life for me to finally wake up and realize that I need to stop settling for things that make me feel less than what I am worth. To this day, settling is the one thing that I refuse to allow myself to do.

I refuse to allow myself to settle because I have seen where it leads. I was in an abusive relationship at one point in my life where I felt nothing but worthless. I was constantly anxious and worried. I had missed out on so many things in my life during that time that I regret. I was used for the wrong reasons and constantly lied to. I completely let myself go as a person. I became so depressed and anxious that I did not even try with my appearance. I let myself gain a ton of weight and did not care about how my clothing, hair, or makeup looked. Worst of all, though, I allowed myself to be treated horribly. I became a person that I hated. What I thought was love was actually abuse. If I was still in the relationship to this day, I would hate to see what I would be like.

As you can see, settling is never a good thing. I now refuse to settle for less on anything, whether it be school, relationships, my health, or anything else important. I have experienced and know myself what settling leads to, and my advice to anyone who is currently doing so would be to stop now. Everyone is worthy and deserves to be happy, regardless of who they are.