It doesn’t happen like that. You don’t just wake up one day and find that everything has worked itself out. You must get out of bed, morning after morning, and make a conscious effort to control the circumstances of that given day. You must learn to handle your issues with grace because you respect what they are attempting to teach you. You must drown your insecurities slowly, one self-realization at a time. You must allow yourself to feel the fear bubbling just beneath your skin but you must never allow it the satisfaction of crippling you; grit your teeth and march on. You see, they never tell you how hard these things will be. This fight to reclaim yourself is not easy or straightforward but, my god, is it necessary. 

If 6-year-old me were in Tokyo

Life is simple. I live fiercely by my own rules. I don’t let anyone encroach on my independence. I take risks. I live life on my terms. I enjoy the birdsong. I read my books. I look at the world with curiosity. I treat myself well. And I think hard about the people who fill me up with joy, who excite me, who care deeply. Those people are for me.