A Friendly Reminder

At 11:43AM I received a text and it said:

Hi Shelby

Friendly reminder to forget the past and remember the lesson, okay? You’re so smart and kind and caring and BEAUTIFUL inside and out, and you can’t let life get you down. Don’t settle with mediocre. Don’t settle with conditional love.

I hope you have a great day.

The sad part is I know exactly what prompted this text this morning, however; the good thing is I’m happy that there was someone looking out for me to stop me in my tracks. In life, we as humans find comfort. We find comfort in many different things that help keep us who we are and whether that be a hobby, a pet, or a person we all have something. This strange trait is something that just happens so fast and naturally that we don’t even realize the attachment that we have to that thing/certain someone until it’s completely stripped away from us.

For me, I had all three. In high school, I had adopted a love for Student Council and that to me was the most important thing in my life during that time. I’m so thankful for having Student Council and all of the people that it has brought into my life, because it has given me some of the most amazing opportunities and the most lasting friendships. The second was my precious puppy Gabbi, who I just lost two weeks ago, that puppy was one of the most incredible things to ever prance her way into my life. Gabbi became the single most important thing in my life because she depended on me and in a way I depended on her without even knowing it. Gabbi was the most sweetest dog, that I couldn’t imagine in a thousand years seeing her being taken away from me so fast, she had so much love to give me every single day and my friends and family fell in love with her as well. I found comfort in Gabbi because she was always there next to me and giving me her kisses. Only when she passed away from cancer unexpectedly did I have that comfort ripped away from me leaving with the most empty feeling I have ever felt in my whole entire life. Lastly, I found comfort in a boy. Around the same time I lost my dog I also let go of someone who held a very special part of my heart. Looking back at it rationally I find myself asking why I held onto to someone who never wanted my comfort in the first place. To this day, I don’t even think that he realizes that I am his second option because he wants to have us both. That for me is something I have a lot of trouble making sense of. Being the second option, it’s something no girl wants to hear or come to terms with herself especially when you did everything in the realm of possibility to make things work for you both. Stepping out of my comfort zone, and from him was a walk that I still find impossible.

            Now you want to know the strange thing? Even after knowing the outcome of a situation that we have found comfort in, we always find ourselves going back. I have never really understood why it is so hard for people to let go of something. It’s like we just retrace our steps backwards hoping that for whatever reason, we will have a different outcome. That’s exactly what I have been doing, retracing my footsteps. We invest so much of our time and love into other things that sometimes we forget to invest time in ourselves. That’s what I realized this morning thanks to a special friend. Find comfort in yourself and knowing that one day you will make something beautiful out of your life. Find comfort in the fact that your beloved puppy and your family members are smiling down upon you in heaven and they are so amazed by the incredible things that you are doing every single day. And lastly, find comforting in realizing that some people out there are in need of more help than you can give them. You can’t begin to help someone until you know how to help yourself, and that’s where I have been falling short these past couple of days.

            Thank you to the special woman who probably thought the text was so simple that I would ignore it. Please know that it made a huge impact on my day and know that I did a complete game-changer. I love you, and you are stronger than you know too.