Before you met him, you were careless to your surroundings. You never recognized the trees were starting to turn orange or that the flowers were beginning to bloom. Every neighborhood, restaurant, or coffee shop was insignificant, another normal place you visited during your daily routine.

But, then he left.

Suddenly, everything has a meaning you never knew existed.

You begin to analyze every road and every face you pass throughout your day. Every time you taste your favorite foods, you start to recognize a different texture in it. You begin wondering what happened to the person sitting next to you, whether they have ever felt the feelings you are feeling now. When someone tells you they understand how you feel, you want to scream that your emotions can never compare to theirs, because they never had a bite of your love.

It stings the most every year when your birthday or the holidays roll around. It cuts through you because you remember the way that he would look at you, like he had the world in his hands. He treated your family and friends like his own, connecting with them in ways you never thought possible, ways that made you guarantee that he was in fact, perfect for you. He always knew exactly what to do on that day, because he knew you better than anyone else.

He carried a piece of not only your heart, but also your entire existence. When he left he not only shattered that muscle in your chest, but took with him a sliver of your life.

As time goes on without him, everything you once knew begins to change. Your perception of yourself begins to transform. You start to evaluate everything you did to make things go wrong. You question what you could have done to make him stay. When you look at the person next you, your attitude is different. Maybe you become more friendly because you are looking for an escape from the scrape that was placed on your heart. Maybe you’re more guarded because you’re terrified of more pain being placed on your life. Nothing is guaranteed, but what I do know is – nothing your life is ever the same once you have your heart broken.

These are the things they won’t tell you. Because it’s terrifying and confusing to think that one day you’ll be on your own again. But it’s okay because, one day, you’re going to fall in love again. Maybe this time it’ll be with yourself. Eventually, it’ll be with someone else.

Only then, will you realize that heartbreak was worth it.