Like everyone, I’ve been broken. The things I’ve loved, or the lack thereof, has destroyed me.

I became obsessed with those things. I’m ambitious, hungry to learn, and in those cases, determined to do whatever necessary to avoid that same pain.

I had been broken by others before, but now, I was the one breaking myself.

Either through wisdom or through chance we’ve all learned that nothing comes easy. The greatest things in life involve hard work and some amount of risk.

I didn’t want to take that risk though, because I couldn’t find a formula to tell me if the risk would be worth it or not.

I was obsessed with the idea of not being weak, instead of focusing on being strong.

All I needed to do was be positive towards myself. But I was so worried about tearing myself down I couldn’t honor the parts of me that were good. I was so focused on not allowing myself to be hurt that I couldn’t enjoy the goodness that was right in front of me.

Our greatest strengths will always be our greatest weaknesses. So we have to find the balance and accept what we cannot change while appreciating what we can.

Our identity culture and social media based lifestyle make it easy for us to change one thing with the click of a button. But real change will never occur overnight. It takes effort, habits, and most importantly, time.

Instead of obsessing over your weaknesses, be thankful for your strengths. Instead of worrying about what you can’t change, pay honor to what you can. Start small, the big things will follow.