Day #165 in A Year of Positivity

“By being yourself, you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before.”—Edwin Elliot

It’s one thing to change things about yourself if that genuinely helps you grow to become a better person and a better version of who you were created to be. It’s another thing to change who you are for someone who won’t accept and love you as you are, with your faults and flaws. I had to learn this lesson the hard way, and it took two committed relationships for me to understand it. When I love someone, I’m already deeply invested in life with that person, and I’ll fight tooth and nail to cherish them and what we have, no matter how tough life gets. For the two relationships I am referring to in this post, I compromised on my values and made changes to the best parts of myself to make my partners happy and meet their needs. As a result, I lost myself and couldn’t recognize the person looking back at me every time I gazed into a mirror. The Lord has since been healing my heart, helping me to learn and grow in love while becoming a better, stronger version of myself, all without sacrificing the best parts of who I am or compromising my core values. Don’t be afraid to let your authentic self shine, because you are beautiful just as you are, and the world needs you and everything that makes you so special.