You are the girl who cares. The girl who always finds a way to forgive. You’ve lived the better half of your life putting others before yourself, and you know that your heart has been given to the wrong people, simply because time and time again, they’ve shown you that you’re not a priority. You are the woman who forgives, who loves, who cares unconditionally. There is nothing wrong with that; in fact, your forgiving heart is beautiful. But you must also protect yourself, too. There comes a time when your selflessness, when your second and third and fifteenth chances are only burdening you and breaking you down. There comes a time when the love you give is not inspiring someone to improve their own heart; it is simply enabling them to continue to hurt you. And you don’t deserve that pain. Don’t get me wrong — you are strong for letting go of pain, strong for loving people despite their mistakes, strong for giving people chances, strong for knowing that we are all imperfect and sometimes we mess up. But you need to understand — sometimes people can’t love you the way you love them. And sometimes you forgive people who might not deserve it. That’s no reflection on you. You just have to learn to take better care of your heart. Don’t change who you are or the way you love, but do start giving chances to the right people. Start putting energy into relationships that build you and significant others who see the wonderful person you are and won’t fall short of giving you the love you deserve. Start putting yourself first, and forgiving your own heart for the way you’ve let it be trampled upon by people who didn’t have your best interests in mind. Start learning that it’s okay to forgive people, but not okay to let them hurt you, over and over again. Start loving yourself with the same tenacity and capacity you keep giving to everyone else. ____ Words: @_marisadonnelly Photo: @jesseherzog x @godandman #buildyourrelationship #putyourselffirst #forgivebutdontlettemhurtyouagain #marisadonnelly #jesseherzog #godandman #thoughtcatalog #supernaturalhuntress https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqn1d8BhHuj/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=15vzrwib8zfty