Growing up you learn what heart break feels like over and over and then over again. It is something that comes with the title of a teenager; you tend to give your heart to the undeserving. You think that when you grow up you will eventually grow out of that stage. Although, reality is you will always walk around with your heart on your sleeve, waiting for someone to truly take care of it.

When you are in your 20’s you tend to see Facebook posts that show things such as proposal pictures and baby gender reveals, and in that moment, you feel like you are the only single person left in your friend group.

February is a hard time for people if they do not have a special someone to share it with. It is a season that masks overthinking with heart-shaped chocolate and roses that come in the dozens.

No matter what, you always find yourself strolling down the pink and red aisles of your local grocery store either wondering if it’s too early in a relationship to buy something for our partner, or you’re trying to think if that huge chocolate heart will still be here when everything goes on sale.

In the mist of thinking about what to buy everyone else, you ended up forgetting about your longest relationship, you. In 2018 I challenge you to think of yourself as your most successful relationship you have ever been a part of. You fought it out and broke down and gave up, yet you are still able to stand here walking through the aisles of Kroger.

You made it, and that is something most of your past partners cannot say.

You managed to see the worst of you and stuck around to see who you were able to become. You held your own hand at that homecoming you did not have a date for. You walked yourself through the hard times. You bought yourself flowers when you needed something beautiful. You are the reason you can stand here today.

When you are desperate for love and desperate for a relationship, you tend to fall in love with a person that was met for someone else. You fall back into your teenage habits where you walk with your nose in the air looking for the troubled because you have always been willing to be the shoulder to cry on.

You deserve a love that loves you back. Relationships shouldn’t be a mirror. When you are in love or in a relationship you are not going to have it 50/50. There will be days when they may need someone to pick up the slack when life hits them and that time you may be putting in 80% of the work but in return you deserve to be held as well.

So, remember when you pick up those flowers for Valentine’s Day to throw another bouquet in the cart as well so you never forget how beautiful you are to yourself. It is hard to be lonely when you are in love with your own company.

“She is delightfully chaotic; a beautiful mess. Loving her is a splendid adventure.”

-Steve Maraboli