Dear Mr. I Like You But…,

Photo by Andrey Zvyagintsev

Dear Mr. I Like You But…,

I have catered to your whimsical ways for far too long in my life.

I have watched you pull my heart to all corners of the world and then drop the map in a shredder.

I have allowed you to make me feel special and then let you destroy my hope and confidence.

I have accepted your words as truth and found every reason why I am an ‘I like you but…’ person in this world.

I have given up, I have fought, and I have ached for more. I have fallen in love with the pull in your words and the toxicity of your push.

I have chased after the likes of you in the hopes I will change you.

I have given up myself in order to be more of what you need, to turn that ‘but’ into a period.

I have reacted and unreacted, attached and unattached, chased and halted.

I have ridden emotional roller coasters that were not worth the wait.

I have watched myself fall apart from seams pulled together in haste.

I have been naïve.

and I want to thank you.

Thank you for teaching me the strength of my mind can overpower my will to succumb.

Thank you for teaching me how far I can stretch and how many possibilities I have.

Thank you for reminding me that hope and confidence are brought up by me.

Thank you for showing me I am worth more than just your words.

Thank you for letting me fall on my own, so I could learn to hold my own heart and pull myself back up. Thank you for showing me how to flow in that push-pull with grace.

Thank you for showing me how fast I can run and how change is far more important within.

Thank you for helping me learn how to draw a map back to myself because it gets easier every time.

Thank you for teaching me I have the power of choice.

Thank you for the ride, so I could learn to patiently hold those emotions in safety.

Thank you for teaching me how to be better and that quality takes time.

Thank you for teaching me how to turn naivete into self-awareness and power.

Mr. I Like You But… thank you for being you,

but

this is my final goodbye.

Love Always,

            Riss