50. I had a boyfriend once tell me how he had sex at an early age (like 12), and in a very “aren’t you impressed?” sort of fashion. I thought it was a little gross, and asked how he got into the situation. He then told me that it was a party or some sort of get together, and he had sex with a girl he thought that was cute, and it turned out to be his cousin.
We broke up soon after, and I haven’t talked to him in years. 
“You are the only person who gets to decide if you are happy or not—do not put your happiness into the hands of other people. Do not make it contingent on their acceptance of you or their feelings for you. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if someone dislikes you or if someone doesn’t want to be with you. All that matters is that you are happy with the person you are becoming. All that matters is that you like yourself, that you are proud of what you are putting out into the world. You are in charge of your joy, of your worth. You get to be your own validation. Please don’t ever forget that.” — Bianca Sparacino
Excerpted from The Strength In Our Scars by Bianca Sparacino.
