Go Easy on Yourself

Go easy on yourself. It will only get worse.

Your mom is right when she calls you special. As you get older, you’ll understand what makes you special. Your sister is right when she calls you annoying.

Go easy on yourself.

Don’t worry so much about what other people think about you. The truth is a lot of people really love you even when you don’t really love yourself. You think you’ll never be in certain situations, but I promise that you will. And you will make bad decisions over and over again.

Go easy on yourself.

When those girls are mean to you, move on. I know you feel like your thoughts and opinions are too much or not enough so you keep them to yourself. Learn how to treasure them. When high school seems never ending and all you want to do is grow up,

go easy on yourself.

You will soon wish for that time back. You will fall for the wrong boy and let him manipulate you. You will get angry when he ends things and go a little off the deep end. Mistreating yourself won’t effect him so it is a waste of your time. Not everyone who says they are your friend is going to be good to you. In fact, some of them are going to be really awful. You will trust too much and get hurt for that. Some people are going to use you, one is going to abuse you. It’s not your fault, it’s his. His “sorry” doesn’t make it go away and it hurts more than you care to admit.

Go easy on yourself.

It will make you a better you. Invest in your friends. Tell them how you’re feeling sometimes. I know you don’t like the attention on yourself, that won’t change. But there is so much peace found in sharing your burdens. You will hate yourself at times. Hate being in pictures. Hate seeing yourself in the mirror. I know you can’t explain it and sometimes can’t understand it but it will pass (and then return and then pass again).

Go easy on yourself.

You’ll meet an amazing human and you won’t understand why he loves you so much. Accept it. He’s good to you. He knows the bad and he points out the good. He is steady. Hold on to him. Don’t stop painting. Don’t stop creating. Don’t stop being a weirdo. It’s hard to pick those things back up. But you can do it.

Go easy on yourself when no one else does. When you’re working full time and trying to graduate. When you’re drowning in debt and pretending like everything is fine. When you’re in a place you never thought you’d be. People have always called you “easy-going.” But what about when the goings not so easy?

Go easy on yourself.

You’ve mastered the art of lowering your standards and expectations so that there is no possible way you can be disappointed. You’ve learned how to talk yourself out of just about every emotion. You’re smart. Don’t be so smart that you miss out on the things around you. When you learn to take a breath, you’ll see that everything that feels like the biggest thing in the world right now, simply isn’t that big at all. Smile for the pictures even though you hate your smile right now. You’ll start to learn that you care less about how you look in a picture and more about what the moment meant to you. Learn to wake up early because your favorite part of the day will be when the sun is rising and everything is still. And in those moments where everything is still and coffee tastes like the best thing in the world, go easy on yourself.