Learning About Love and Hurt

(From My 13-Year-Old Self)

June 7, 2019. (I was only 13 when I wrote this, but looking back, it still feels true.)

You don’t just wake up one day and automatically love someone. It happens slowly. You learn to trust them. You start to believe in them. You want to spend time with them so much that at first, you even feel jealous of anyone else who gets a part of their attention. It stings, but eventually, you grow past it.

And then, one day, you notice that the jealousy is gone. In its place is something stronger: a quiet confidence. You just know this person won’t leave you, won’t betray you, won’t choose anyone else over you. They make you feel irreplaceable. That’s when it hits you — this is what real love feels like. Something unbreakable.

But life isn’t perfect. Getting hurt is part of it. You can get hurt while dancing. You can get hurt while cutting your hair. You can even get hurt while trimming your nails. But it’s okay. Because after every hurt, we heal. And then we get hurt again, and we heal again. That’s how we grow stronger. That’s how we become unstoppable.

We will all face setbacks. You’ll have a hundred. I’ll have a hundred. But maybe that’s fair — because life gives each of us our own lessons to carry. And maybe it’s better to face those setbacks sooner rather than later.

Most of all, I wish everyone happiness — the kind that doesn’t need to be perfect to feel real….