Soul.

Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.

But I have seen the best of you and the worst of you, and I choose both.

When you find someone who can make you laugh. Smile. Grow. lust. Want. Crave. Feel. Make you mad but happy. Keep that. That’s euphoria.

They have been through the fire, and what fire does not destroy, it hardens.

People may not tell you how they feel about you, but they always show you. Pay attention.

Find someone who loves you well. Someone who never belittles you. Even in the heat of an argument. Someone who is gentle with you, but does not treat you like you are fragile. Someone who knows what you are capable of, and celebrates those pieces of you. Not someone who is intimidated by your strength. Someone who doesn’t make you feel guilty for being flawed. It is not love’s job to punish you. And remember the person you love is just as broken as you are when they fall short. No one is perfect – do not hold them to this standard. Find someone who is patient, forgiving, and apologetic. Someone who practices forgiveness freely and often. Love someone who is humble, kind, and empathetic. Not only with you, but with a beggar on the street, or a stranger in the supermarket. Common courtesy is important. Compassion is important. Kindness is important.

Learning to let go should be learned before learning to get. Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.

“Everyone you meet, Is a star in the sky. Until one of them, Becomes the sun.”

Sometimes I remind myself that I almost skipped the party, that I almost went to a different college, that the whim of a minute could have changed everything and everyone. Our lives, so settled, so specific, are built on happenstance.

The timing wasn’t wrong. Who we were at the time was wrong.

You become like the 5 people you spend the most time with - choose carefully.