You’ve already accomplished the hardest part. So keep building. Keep working on yourself. - Najwa Zebian

We had a moment once when I felt that we were one, in the same feeling, in the same soul. But I've come to learn that these moments can imprison us for years when they were only moments followed by many more that were not the same.

All my heart could say then was Why can’t I have that? That wasn’t the gifts. It wasn’t the clothes or the candy. That was the love. The warmth. The connection. The feeling of relevance, worth, and importance. . . . Like I actually belonged somewhere. At such a young age, I wasn’t able to label my feelings with these words. The only word I could put to what I was missing, to what I wanted, was that.

I realized that there are people in my life who aren’t good for me. I realized that I no longer have to hold on to people just because of how long they’ve been in my life or because of the potential of what they could be one day or because of who they were.