Thinking later, I wondered what I needed. It seemed fairly easy.

Help, duh. I need to know why I feel that way so that I can deal with it and stop feeling that way. I need to stop blaming people and myself. I need to stop hurting myself, inside and out. I need to believe in myself, to know that I'm okay, and that I'm real. That I'm myself, and that maybe there's more than one of "myselfs" but that that's okay too, I just have to understand their personalities and differences and why they come out when they do. I need to be different but accepted. I need to be happy.

She put her hand on my shoulder. She smiled gently. She said five words that I'd never thought I'd hear.

"It's okay to be you."


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