your thoughts destroy you, don't they? and it's not like you want them to and sometimes it's really just like, what, where did that come from? but they're there. constantly. right? despite the fact that you want them to go away and despite the fact that you wish you could just be happy. and there's so much crap out there. like, here are three easy steps to get rid of negative thoughts. yes, because, your annoying voice and charts are going to take away my bad thoughts. thank you for such an amazing school program, where they show videos to cure negative thoughts in three easy steps. and when they show stuff like this, it's kind of surprising that people buy into it. like you actually notice people going along with what these people are saying. and i mean, of course it's the "right" way to go about it. but you know what i have to say about that video? turn it off. if you want to be happy, go get a mirror and sit down. and stare at yourself. i don't care how much you hate your reflection, get the mirror and stare at yourself. stare at yourself until all you see is directly inside of you. go way back to that first heartbreak, and open that file. read through the seemingly agonizing details, and look at the people that helped you back up. there was that one person there for a little bit, then that other person, then her, then you eventually found your way out of it. now, look back at yourself. okay, now go back again, to that second heartbreak. let the words sink into your heart and remember exactly how hopeless you felt in those moments. and remember how you thought you would never get over it? that thought was so real, and so valid. because at the time you never wanted to let him go, right? and people just didn't understand. they could call you dramatic and say you just needed to get over it but they just didn't know. remember that feeling? now look back at yourself. go back again now, walk to the file cabinet, and open up that third heartbreak. read it over, and maybe even feel tears in your eyes because you just remember it so well. you remember the feeling of being alone, you remember the hopelessness, like the walls were caving in. you just remember it and you remember how you really did believe that pain would always be a part of you. now, look at yourself again. and see those small tears and remember how real the pain was. remember it and feel it and breathe in it for a second. put the mirror down and go into your head and hear all those thoughts. hear that thoughts that are currently destroying you. and hear how alone you feel, hear how devastated you are, hear how much you just want to give up. hear it and recognize it and let it sink in because lately that's the only feeling you know. now, i want you to imagine something. rather, i want you to imagine someone. i want you to imagine somebody who picks you up every single time you fall. maybe even catches you before you can hit the ground. imagine someone who holds your hair back when you're vomiting, who gives you medicine to make your headaches go away, who helps you rest your legs when they feel so sore they could give out. imagine that this person wipes away your tears every single time you cry away all the pain you've been holding in during the day. somebody who holds you at night and tries to fight away the darkness and tries to find the little sparks of light. somebody who holds your hand and guides you down the road you don't know if you want to take. now pick up that mirror and look yourself in the eye. and realize that this person you've been imagining? it's you. there hasn't been a time in your life when it hasn't been you. in the end you've always sealed up the cuts on your heart even if you have no clue how to give something stitches. even if the stitches on your heart are a little crooked, even if the scars that are healing are a little ugly, a little too big for size, a little out of place. even if. even if anything: the number one reason you have to stay on this earth is for yourself. because you are the one the saw the wounds, cried about the wounds, wondered how to ever stop them from bleeding, and saw a bottle of triple antibiotic sitting a ways away from you, and you saw that it helps to heal wounds. and you stopped crying and even though you didn't know what the hell triple antibiotic was, you put it on your cut. and you put a bandaid on because you owed it to yourself. and now, you owe it to yourself to do that every single time. because no matter what else in the world changes, no matter who does what and who says what, your reflection will always be the person who loves you the most: you.