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."