You Are Tougher Than You Think

I was really struggling to figure out what I was going to write about this year. My 8 year anniversary of my transplant. I really thought this was going to be the first time in a while that I didn't have anything to write about. I just couldn't find the inspiration. Then while scrolling through social media I found something that really hit home for me. It stuck with me throughout the day and into the night. Not really the spark of inspiration I needed just then. But as the day started slowing down and I started to think more it hit me. When I say it hit me, it was one ugly cry. The quote I saw was, "a strong woman knows being strong is not an option for her, it's a necessity." Whenever I tell my story I usually get the same reactions. I'm told how strong I am. When I go through a rough time people remind of how strong I am to get through everything I have in the past. But to me, I didn't have a choice but to be strong. Yes, I probably could have give...

I've been told since I was younger that tattoos are trashy. They're a permanent destruction to your body. I destroyed my temple. I tainted something that was already perfect. That isn't true. My body was tainted by a disease that destroyed my insides. I survived all of that so I could decorate my "temple" the way I please. Every tattoo has a story and a meaning to who and why I am. My favorite story is my most recent. In the last couple months I lost myself. I found myself caught in a depression and spiraled because I was so busy taking care of others around me that I forgot about myself. It's not an excuse for the things I did or said but I realize now that those actions shouldn't be a reflection of who I am as a whole. That person is a broken person. I have tried to hide from that person since I met her senior year of high school. Depressed me is a mean person, but a lost and hurt person too. No one person or one thing is responsible for her hurt, bu...