the truth is we outgrow those who don't know how to love us

Inspired by a Thought Catalogue piece. 

The truth is we outgrow those who don’t appreciate us. Those who are okay with our absence. Those who allow the distance between us and them to grow. We outgrow those who make us feel like we’re replaceable. Who make us question our worth. 


The truth is we outgrow those who aren’t genuine with us. Those who say things they don’t mean. Those who speak of grandeur but whose actions fall flat . Those who only like a certain side of us but don’t want to accept our many facets. Those who don’t care about our wants and needs because they’re too busy focusing on their own.


We outgrow those who make us feel like an inconvenience. Those who are capable of giving so much more but choose to withhold with us. Those who put us last on their list of priorities. We outgrow those who are lazy with us. Who take us for granted. Who show us that they’re not invested. That they don’t want to try.  We outgrow those who don’t value us the way we want to be valued.

The truth is we reach a point where we know who we are, what we want and what we deserve and we’re not willing to go back to selling ourselves short again. We’re not willing to repeat the same vicious cycle of handing out our hearts to those who don’t know how to catch them. We are capable of giving someone we love the world but all we need is the reassurance that they won’t abuse it, that our hearts are secure with them, that they won’t turn into another lie or another mistake. 

The truth is we outgrow those who don’t know how to love us. We outgrow those who tell us everything we need to hear but show us nothing. We outgrow those who don’t love us because it took us years to learn how to love ourselves and we’re not ready to ruin that by being with people who make us question who we are or if we’re worthy of their love. 

The truth is that all love, all relationships, take effort. Must be fertilized with basic human decency. Trimmed and watered.  Require sunlight to grow.