Every single person on this earth has encountered something that has made them rethink everything that they have ever known, including me and you. Something that makes you think about what you did to deserve feeling that much pain, or what you did to deserve getting the short end of things even when you've put in your all. It is easy to begin to define yourself as someone else does, it is easy to put the same labels on your name as other people do. It is easy to blame yourself for something that someone else put you through, hell I have done it on more than one occasion.

When I was a sophomore in High School, I had gotten into my first "real" or so I thought, relationship. When that ended after a few years, I was in the worst state I have ever seen myself in.

I started labeling myself as worthless, I didn't think that anyone could ever love me after what I had been through, I didn't think I was worth it to anyone. I didn't think I would ever go a night without crying, I didn't think I would ever be comfortable in my own skin because it got to the point where I thought it was because of my physical appearance. I was young, and I had a broken heart, everyone goes through it, but no one tells you how you're supposed to come out of it. It took me awhile, but I found out how strong I was and that I was capable of making myself happy, and being myself until someone appreciated myself as much, if not more, as I did. This event impacted me greatly, not the person because everyone has to do what they need to do to be happy, but the specific event, the struggles are what change you.

Not only did I struggle with this, but I also struggled with numerous other things that I am not comfortable publishing for the world to see. Things that I'm not sure most people would know how to handle, because hell, I didn't, along with little struggles such as growing up in a not so typical way, which meant providing for myself from the age of 15. My dad tried as hard as he could and I got most of my strength and hard work from him, which is why I started working at such a young age. He taught me you have to work for your success, he taught me although things aren't easy that doesn't mean they are not worth it.

There are moments in life that shape you, and impact you into who you are. These moments test you, but at the same time, they show your what you are truly capable of. When negative things happen, it is so easy for your first instinct to be to give up, to let go, to stop trying. But then you have to remember how much you are worth, that just because one crappy thing happened doesn't mean you can't have something wonderful happen the next day. Sometimes we get caught up in the negatives, we get caught up in our mistakes, and the people who don't like us. We get caught up in what we have done wrong to someone, or what someone did to us, we get caught up in thinking we aren't worth as much as we actually are.

We get caught up in thinking we aren't pretty enough, we aren't funny enough, we don't do things as well as someone else, we get caught up comparing ourselves to others, and comparing ourselves to the person someone thinks we are.

You go through these struggles but you have to remind yourself that as long as you try your best to be okay, then you are going to be okay. You will get over it, and you are strong enough to get over it, and you are not what happens to you, you are not what mistakes you have made, you are not the whispers they say to one another about what you did. You are you.

You are important, you are special, you are enough, and anyone that doesn't see that isn't worth your time. Life can be hard, but it's only harder if you let yourself think you are less than what you are. Your struggles do not define your identity, how you chose to handle them does, and you are the only one in control of that.