The Truth About Healing

We’ve all heard the age-old adage: everyone who comes into our lives is there to serve a purpose. If there’s any one thing I’ve learned about this truth, it is that we aren’t given the people we want in life—we are given those we need. The ones to be there for us no matter what, in order to know true love. The ones who leave us early, to know the value of a life. The ones who treat us terribly, so we know what we deserve (and that we deserve better.) The ones who break our hearts, so we know what healing is. The ones who defy us, to give us courage. They all come together to make us who we are.

But let’s focus on the ones who break our hearts. Heartbreak is a funny thing. You feel it. It consumes you. It clouds your perception and jades your view on everything around you. But the thing is, he didn’t break your heart by leading you on. She didn’t break your heart when she left. We break our own hearts by believing that others are incapable of allowing us to destroy ourselves for them. People come and go in life, but the ones to hold tight to are those who help us put the pieces back together when our hearts seem too broken to mend.

Breathe in. Now exhale. Do you feel that? You’re alive. Air is still exchanging in your lungs. You’re still here. In spite of your failures and heartache… you’re still blessed enough to have made it through. It’s okay to be sad; it will probably take some time for you to heal again. Each new heartbreak is the equivalent of tearing open long healed wounds; the seams are strong but not impenetrable. They’ll bleed, but not forever. And when they do heal again, the wounds will scar over tougher than before.

Remember this, lovely one: just like every person in your life, you also serve a purpose. You are the sum of how you’ve overcome every heartbreak—every defeat and disappointment… and not the amalgamation of those who couldn’t love you.