Diamonds

"A diamond is a piece of charcoal that handled stress exceptionally well." ~unknown

When I was first planning to come down to Florida, Brayden told me something along the lines of "You don't have to tell people you were married. You can just be you."

I understand why he felt this way ... my whole life story comes off as a little intimidating, and he just wants me to be happy and fit in.

Bless him for that.

But here's the thing : I know I am not my mistakes. I am moving forward and moving on, and I am not stuck in my past. But my past has made me who I am. All of these things are a part of me, and a part of my story. And I am not ashamed of them. Every single thing that has happened over the past few years has made me stronger. And everything that is happening now, no matter how hard it is, can be overcome.

I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. And while I don't want to throw my "drama" in people's faces (it's my burden to bear, after all) this is still my story. I wouldn't trade it for anyone else's. And maybe I'm still learning who I am and how to deal with things, but that's life. It's not about how big your problems are, it's about how you handle them.