What does it mean to fight for yourself? To be your own best advocate? To be your own warrior? When I was younger, I was raised to be self-sufficient. My parents instilled in me, at a young age, the power of my own voice and perspective. I could challenge authority. I could say what was on my mind. And I could trust my own perspectives.
It’s a beautiful lesson—and one that came with many years of hard work. As a twenty-something and a mom myself now, I think I’m only just beginning to understand the weight of their parental decisions and how they’ve shaped me.
But even with all that they’ve taught me, it doesn’t necessarily change the fact that it’s hard to be your own best friend sometimes. It’s hard to stand up for something you believe in when the people around you don’t necessarily agree.
It’s hard to fight for yourself when it feels like you’re fighting alone.
Growing up brings many challenges. Ask anyone, any age, any nationality, race, or country of origin—as the years of your life increase, so does the pain you encounter. So does the disappointment. And so do the broken promises.
The people you’ve leaned on will start to let you down. The plans you thought you had will unfold. And the dreams that you’ve been chasing may not come to fruition in the way you hoped they would. But it’s okay.
This is the natural process of life. We shift and bend, we change and grow. We learn that we can’t rely on temporary things and we begin to create our own path, write our own stories around the endings we didn’t expect.
But it’s not easy.
When the man or woman you thought you’d spend forever with walks out on you, it’s hard not to blame yourself. When the job you fought hard for turns out to be more of a nightmare than a blessing, it’s difficult to pretend that everything’s okay.
The turns and twists are never anticipated—but what can you do when life spins out of control? You can fight back. You can be your own warrior.
What I’ve learned in my journey is that sometimes you can’t depend on anyone but yourself. And this isn’t meant to be negative; it isn’t meant to discourage you from opening up and letting others in. This is a reminder of the inherent strength within you—of the person you are and always will be.
No one can fight for your heart like you can. No one can go to battle for your dreams like you can. And no one knows the vision in your heart like you do. So trust yourself.
And fight back.
Featured Image Credit: Tyler Nix
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