We all need to be a bit more like the first picture taken

Raw, unfiltered, and all our flaws are showing

You cannot change someone
Entering relationships with the mindset of making them a better version of them self is horribly toxic for both parties

Change occurs by existing
If you want to change someone
Love them
Love them with every ounce of your being without any agenda
And they will change
Not in the way you wanted
But oh,
So much more magnificently than that

You taught me that asking meant leaving

Telling you, "you hurt me"
Chased you away
Asking you to accommodate my heart
Was "too much" for you to stay

And all the fools after you did nothing but affirm that
They only ever fed the fear you planted and watered in my heart

So now I'm silent
I keep my standards low and my expectations lower

I try to hush
The hopeless romantic desire
That someone would read my words and simply know how to love me

Fine.

If you want simple, easy, and comfortable
Then I will walk away right now.

But you know that we're not made for easy
You and I were made for hard, complicated, and confusing.

I am a fighter
And if you let me I will fight for you
But love has taught me there is no winning someone who's already decided the battle is lost.

So tell me now
Because "goodbye" is said too often when I'm with you.

I kissed everyone but the one I wanted to,

You.