You have to get hurt. That’s how you learn. The strongest people out there, the ones who laugh the hardest with a genuine smile, those are the people who have fought the toughest battles. Because they’ve decided that they’re not going to let anything hold them down, they’re showing the world who's the boss.

Want my advice? Stay mad as long as you can. because once you're not mad anymore, it hurts. It hurts like hell and once it hurts that bad you can't make yourself mad anymore.Love is everything. It’s happiness, confusion, and butterflies in your stomach. It’s wishing for him on 11:11 every night, and the first thing you do in the morning is check your phone to see if he’s texted you yet. It’s thinking about him when you’re supposed to be doing classwork, and daydreaming about how it would be if you two were to ever get married. Your first name and his last go well together, don’t they? He’s cute, and funny, and sweet, and he makes you feel like the happiest girl in the universe. You wouldn’t change anything about him, and you lock cute messages he sends you on your phone. He’s perfect, you love him. You love being in love, and you know what it feels like now, finally.

I no longer believed in the idea of soul mates, or love at first sight. But I was beginning to believe that very few times in your life, if you were lucky, you would meet someone who was exactly right for you. Not because he was perfect, or because you were, but because your combined flaws were arranged in a way that allowed two separate beings to hinge together.

He’s not perfect. You aren’t either, and the two of you will never be perfect. But if he can make you laugh at least once, causes you to think twice, and if he admits to being human and making mistakes, hold onto him and give him the most you can. He isn’t going to quote poetry, he’s not thinking about you every moment, but he will give you a part of him that he knows you could break. Don’t hurt him, don’t change him, and don’t expect for more than he can give. Don’t analyze. Smile when he makes you happy, yell when he makes you mad, and miss him when he’s not there. Love hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect guys don’t exist, but there’s always one guy that is perfect for you.