lessons you’ll learn the hard way (before 26)

1. people will use you until there’s nothing left, and then blame you for breaking. stop giving yourself away to people who only know how to take.

2. love doesn’t always heal you—sometimes, it guts you. and when it does, you’ll sit in the wreckage, wondering why the fuck you weren’t enough. here’s the truth: it wasn’t you. it was never you.

3. abandonment will carve its name into your chest, but it’s not a brand you have to carry forever. stop trying to stitch yourself together with the apologies you’ll never get.

4. some people aren’t meant to stay. they’ll leave holes where they used to be, but that emptiness isn’t for you to fill. leave it hollow. let it echo. move the fuck on.

5. stop crawling back to people who would rather lose you than fight for you. if they don’t see your worth, it’s not your job to show them. let them watch you from the sidelines.

6. there’s nothing romantic about suffering for someone who doesn’t give a shit about you. stop calling it love when it’s really self-destruction.

7. not all lost love deserves mourning. some of it deserves a goddamn celebration for finally setting you free. light the fucking candles and walk away.

8. you don’t owe anyone your softness. you don’t owe them your time, your energy, or your goddamn tears. save it for the people who’ve earned it.

9. stop waiting for people to come back and fix what they broke. some people are meant to wreck you, and some pain is meant to teach you. learn it, and then bury it.

10. being used doesn’t make you weak—it makes you human. but staying there? letting them keep taking? that makes you complicit. get the fuck out.

11. closure is a myth. you don’t need their apology. you don’t need their explanation. you need to shut the door, lock it, and throw away the fucking key.

12. anger isn’t something to fear. it’s fuel. burn bridges with it if you need to. burn down the whole goddamn town if it sets you free.

13. don’t let lost love harden you. let it make you ruthless. let it make you fierce about who you let in. you’re not a fucking charity.

14. say it with your whole chest:

“i am not your savior, your fixer, your goddamn second chance.”

“i am not here to be anyone’s backup plan or bandage.”

“i will not bleed for people who hand me the knife.”