Lessons Learned from You

1. Do not spend years trying to grasp fingers that pull away from your touch.
2. Do not change yourself for the love and affection of someone else. He does not care that you destroyed yourself. He does not care if you ripped apart every fiber of your being, down to the atom, until you started nuclear warfare within your soul. He will tell you that he never asked you to change.
3. Do not expect people to change for you. If he is stubborn, he will stay stubborn. If he is shy, he will stay shy. If he is disgusted by the thought of opening up the book of his heart to let you underline your favorite words and fold over the precious pages to revisit them, nothing you do will ever make him find amusement in it.
4. Every person is placed in your life for a reason. He may not be the love of your life. He may not even be requited love, but he will allow you to look into yourself and see what you deserve. He will make you see how much you long for quiet nights, huddled up on the couch, your head in the crook of the neck of a now faceless man, who whispers poetry in your ear before you fall asleep. Do not lower your standards for a vision of a man behind rose colored glasses.
5. You need someone who is not ashamed to love you. Who will kiss you with a spotlight because he does not mind the whole world knowing that he is yours.
6. Do not wait for him to kiss you. Even the winners in mind games are too tired to relish in the victory. Kiss him. Hard.
7. Do not give up your whimsical soul for a practical man. Keep on blowing your loose eyelashes and making wishes. Keep telling everyone that your gray hair is lucky. Tell the stars your dreams because when your desires come true, where will his practicality be?
8. Love long. Love hard. Love strong. Love with every fiber of your being. Immerse yourself in love. Love the world. Love humanity. Love people. And most importantly, love yourself. Some say to love is to destroy. We are kissed by the flames of love that only wither when we turn to dust. But from the ashes, we rise again.