Every love I've had has changed me. Every almost love has altered me. I've tried my hardest to mend and massage those major heartbreaks and minor paper cuts so that I am better for it. Either because I've learned something or because I grew in some way or because I was able to expand my capacity for empathy.
No matter how it ends I'm always grateful. Not always right away, it takes time to wade through disappointment, but eventually I find my way to gratitude and I think of this quote:
“And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could.”
-Louise Erdrich Quotes
I tried. And I’ll keep on trying. I can be proud of myself for that.
How has love changed you?