Lauren Jarvis-Gibson

Don’t settle for the ordinary date. Don’t settle for dates that send you home crying. Settle for the extraordinary. For the dates that make you blush in happiness. For the dates that send you smiling from ear to ear. Settle for the dates that make you dream impossible things. That make you believe in love again

There are seven billion people in this world. You will find another him. You will find another her. And honestly, and truthfully, you will find someone better than this person. One day, you’ll find someone who won’t close the door on your heart.

I don’t need flowers every day. I don’t need the candles. I don’t need the sparkly presents wrapped in ribbon. That’s not the kind of romance I’m talking about. I’m talking about giving me the time of day. I’m talking about eye contact. I’m talking about telling jokes that make me throw my head back laughing.

Don’t stop. Don’t give up on yourself. Don’t let the sadness and the pain take over your every emotion. Get help. Talk to your friends that you know won’t judge you. Call someone. Breathe and know that this too shall pass.

Keep on going and walking. Keep on laughing without them. Keep on learning how to live without the love of your life. 

You used to be her world. Her galaxy. Her setting sun. Her dying dawn. But with time, she realized that she was and is her own damn universe.

You light your vanilla candle, the one your best friend gave you from Bath & Body Works that smells like middle school and memories. It’s 7 pm. You’re already half drunk and exhausted. It’s only Monday.

Tomorrow. I know what you’re thinking. Tomorrow this and tomorrow that. Stop! Focus on the now, and on the present moment. For all you know, tomorrow may not come, so don’t waste your time fretting about it. 

Most importantly, they will remind you every day that you are worthy of love for yourself. And they will remind you that you are still so incredibly lovable even after all this time.

Don’t go down that path. For you are by far the greatest thing that he will never get to have. And you are by far have the most wonderful and beautiful heart, that he will never get to unravel. 

What’s done is done. What’s happened has already happened. Maybe it was wonderful. Maybe it wasn’t. But, regardless, I can’t keep opening up old wounds. I can’t keep picking at scars ready for them to bleed. I can’t keep opening up my heart until all of it has dissolved right in front of me.

I smile without him now. You can too.

As cliche as this sounds, life is so so short. You don’t want to wake up one day and be full of regrets about what you didn’t do. So do it. Buy that ticket. Move to other side of the world. Take that job offer. Kiss that person who you have loved for years now. Do it. And live with no regrets.

You only have one heart and one life. And at the end of the day, you will be stuck with your choices and chances that you took or didn’t take. Choose wisely. And most importantly, always know that your heart is sacred. And it belongs to someone just as sacred and beautiful as you.

It seems contradictory, right? We have such wide and open heart. We want to love and love some more. We search and search, trying to find our forever person. And then we pick the person who is completely wrong for us. Maybe blindly. But in time, we realize it isn’t a good match. And yet, we don’t give up on it.

Be kind to others but be even kinder to yourself. Let yourself rest when you need to. Let yourself breathe when you need to. Let yourself fall in love with every single part of you — even the parts that aren’t so beautiful.

Life is so much more than that. It’s so much more than settling down. It’s about so much more than getting a sparkly ring on your finger. It’s so much more than finding another human being to love.

Have fun pretending you are better off without her. Have fun picking up the pieces you pretended were never there. Have fun living life faking a smile.