Heartbreak

Picture from WeHeartIt user @Goodbye_Ruby_Tuesday_

We've all been through it. That one person that, no matter how hard you try, you will never ever forget the pain that they've put you through. Just hearing their name can make you feel like you're about to have a breakdown. You don't know whether you should be sad or mad or a combination of both.

The pain is the hardest thing. For the longest time, you feel like you're living without a piece of yourself that you were so sure would always be there. You are forever damaged because of what they've done to you. You lose all hope of ever being completely whole and happy again.

There comes a point where you realize that if they could hurt you and cast you aside so easily, then they weren't really the one for you. You realize that the only person who can really and truly make you whole is you - you are the key to your own happiness. The depression is hard to overcome. The pain still hits you in waves every now and then, but the heartbreak isn't the end of the world. At the end of the day, you're still alive and breathing, so you might as well try your best to live the happiest life possible for yourself.

The first step is realizing that whatever happened to you is not your fault. The heartbreak caused by losing that person never goes away, but it gets better with love, laughter, happiness, and a lot of time.

Why marriage still works

Picture from WeHeartIt user @kenza_azzi

I can't even begin to tell you how many people I've seen sharing article after article on social media about how they never want to get married. Many people seem to think that marriage will never work in today's society.

The idea of marriage is something sacred. Marriage is not meant to be taken lightly. It is not meant for those who are not ready to settle down. It is not meant for you to get married if you cannot see yourself remaining with the person you're with now for your entire life. There are a lot of people who are not in the right mindset for marriage but get married just because. It's these people who have ruined the sanctity of marriage in many people's eyes.

Marriage is still a wonderful and beautiful thing. I myself am not yet married, but I know without a doubt that I've found the one for me and look forward to marrying him someday. There are many out there like me, who are considered "romantics" and "dreamers" by today's standards, but when did it suddenly become only a dream that romance is still alive and well? When did marriage become an outlandish concept rather than a beautiful profession of undying love?

There are so many articles and blog posts out there about why marriage doesn't work. I still strongly believe that it does work when it's meant to be. It's not easy. Relationships require a lot of work, effort, and sacrifice, but love is a wonderful thing to have. Marriage may not be for everyone, but it still works and it is definitely still worth it.

Love Is Never Lost

Image from WeHeartIt user @Mariapld

We always talk about the love we lost, or the one who got away. However, we should realize that love can never be lost. When a love is real, when it completely consumes you and takes hold of your entire life, it can never be lost. Sure, you may lose the person, but the love that you feel for them is always going to be there, even if you fall in love with someone else. You may think that you've forgotten that person, but your heart will never forget the moments you shared.

Money Isn't Everything

Picture from WeHeartIt user @Tanay_Lenette

In today's society, we are taught from a young age that money makes the world go round. We are taught to forego our dreams if they will not bring us the money that the world leads us to desire. I may be young, but I've already learned a valuable life lesson: money isn't everything.

Money cannot buy happiness. Some people, when faced by this statement, simply laugh and say, "Money may not buy happiness, but I'd much rather cry in a Ferrari." This state of mind is the exact reason why people today value things more than they value people. We see the monetary value of the things we possess as having a greater meaning than the emotional connections we make. We don't know how to have healthy and lasting relationships because we're only capable of understanding something as being worthwhile if it comes with a price tag. This is a sad way to go through life.

We need to start appreciating the little things, because the little things are all that really matter in the end. We can possess all the money in the world and still be incredibly poor because we find that we have no one to share the life we've built with. Success should not be defined by the amount of money we have in the bank, but by the love that we've allowed ourselves to give.

Many people are quick to tell me that the path I've chosen in life is the wrong one. Many say that I'm wasting my talents by not pursuing a career in the medical or engineering fields. But I don't want to spend my whole life doing something I hate simply because that's where people say the money is. I was born to be a writer, and that's the path I'm going to follow until the very end of my life. Some may say that I need a backup plan, but choosing a backup plan feels, to me, like admitting defeat before I've even started my journey. I know that the road ahead may be a long one. There will come times when money is tight and I struggle to get by, but struggle is a luxury in life that I refuse to view as otherwise. I will not try to keep struggle from coming my way because it's inevitable. Instead, I will take it in stride and keep the lessons overcoming these obstacles teaches me close to heart,

If faced with the choice between a life of passion, love, and dreams, and a lonely life filled with all the desires that money could buy, I would choose the life of passion. Money isn't everything. Finding the one thing - whether it be a career, a hobby, or a person - that you are truly and fully passionate about pursuing is the one thing that gives life meaning.