Life is a 4-letter word. It throws you curveballs, it makes you jump through hoops, it pushes you to the edge.
But those moments give you strength, those moments help bring out the person you are, those moments define you.
When you get pushed down and get back up, that is strength. When you fail and try again, that is the person you are. When you get hurt and open your heart to another, that defines you. Find yourself in these moments when life, honesty, love, and fairness let you down and you get back up to do it all over again, anyway.
One year I tried out for the cheerleading team, not really a "me" thing, but at the time I really wanted it. Sadly I didn't make it. I felt embarrassed, like a failure and left out. Well, after a good cry and some mom hugs, I shook it off. I found my strength. I went back to school. I found myself through determination and through an understanding that cheerleading didn't define me. I was more than that, and I still am.
In life, everyone tells a lie sometimes. Whether it's "no that dress doesn't make you look fat" or "of course we will be together forever". These lies hurt to different degrees and when we can forgive and move forward we learn to trust and love again. My first boyfriend, who I loved and who loved me back, isn't the man I married. I learned to love again, and again, and again. Each time feeling the heartbreak of a failed relationship and each time learning to open my heart again.
Life doesn't always treat everyone the same. When growing up I was told "I wouldn't amount to anything, I was stupid, give up now," from the teachers who were supposed to support me. You see, I have dyslexia. Back then, it wasn't widely known, accepted or supported. I could have given up, called it a day and quit. Instead, I found ways to work through it, tools to help me through school, people that believed in me and my will to keep going.
When life gives you lemons make lemonade, or if you're dyslexic, make melonade.