dear self,

whenever you're happy, i want you to remember the things that make you sad. not because i don't want you to experience joy but because i want you to learn that through those trials, failures and mistakes, you still have the capacity to be happy. there were days of gloom, of gray skies and colorless eyes but those were yesterday. i want you to tell yourself, "today, i am the calm sunshine after the raging storm. i will radiate warmth as long as my hearth burns within me and i will not let the fiercest of the winds and the strongest of the rains dampen my fire. tomorrow is another story but today, i will be the fire to warm the cold."

dear self,

if it ever gets too hard, i want you to cry. cry so hard that your tears will form seas. cry so hard that your wails will echo throughout the mountains. cry, not because you want to be heard but because you want to hear yourself. stop only when you feel empty enough. empty enough that when you look at the mirror, you no longer recognize the face blankly staring back at you. then wipe away the tears, smile and tell yourself, "i was once a painting that has been washed anew. i was painted in dark colors but those no longer matter because from now on, i will be colored in the brightest of the bright."

dear self,

if anyone ever hurts you to the point that it breaks you, please be strong. strong enough to pick yourself up, strong enough to be able to say NO and walk away from that person who hurt you, strong enough to choose yourself over anyone else. it's okay to be selfish when you have been nothing but selfless. i want you to tell yourself, "my bones are broken and i am my own doctor. i will heal myself not because he hurt me but because i choose to."