Words

You're ugly. You're worthless. Why are you even alive? You mean nothing and never will. Don't even try because you'll fail. You'll never be happy. No one will ever love you...

I have heard these words more than I can count. When I was 13 I started experiencing intense bullying, both physical and verbal. To be told these things every day, no matter how hard you try, you start to believe them. No one ever told me any different, so what was I, as a young teenager, to believe? I started to hate myself. I mean HATE myself. I fully believed that I would never accomplish anything and that my life was a mistake. To be honest, sometimes I still do.

Words are incredibly, ferociously powerful! They have the power to build or destroy you. And it is so true and so sad that you are more likely to believe what others tell you then what you tell yourself. In 11th grade I decided something had to change. I couldn't live hating life, and I wanted to prove those people wrong. Long story short, I did. I'm very proud of my accomplishments and progress so far! But...unfortunately...words stick. I still havn't been told by someone that I'm worth anything, I had to tell myself. And it's exhausting to be your own encouragement while you just want to give up. Words have a way of embedding themselves into your heart, and it's so difficult to get rid of them. I'm still trying. Embed words of love in your heart instead of holding on to words of hate. It's difficult, I know! It's hell to be your own cheerleader when your arms and legs are too weak to cheer. But perseverance and gentle strength is unstoppable! Your determination can be as small as a pea. Just focus on yourself, your goals and dreams, your future, your worth, and you will feel that determination grow into something with raging power.

What I have come to realize, though, is that I won't be happy every day. And that's ok. I won't be strong all the time. That's ok too. But I sure as hell will not ever let anyone else define who I am ever again. That's a dangerous road. The best advice I can give is to never become dependent on people for your value and worth. You are worth so much more than ANYONE says! Your value far surpasses your or anyone else's understanding. You are incredible.

Words are powerful. And they have strong abilities to shape you. But your power is stronger than the words of others. Your strength is greater than a sentence! Believe these words instead:

You are beautiful. You are brave. You are capable of amazing things. You are so loved and so valued. You have an exciting future. You are strong beyond words and powerful beyond comprehension. You are more than a disorder. You are a warrior. A fighter. You have the heart of a hero and the mind of a soldier. You can do anything. You are worth more than all the stars in the sky and all the grains of sand on the beach combined. You are unfathomably amazing!

So take a breath, read that again...And believe it! Never let a sentence from a liars mouth define you!! Show them you are stronger than their words.

Xx