“I’ve traded laughter for hundreds of tears, for battles I didn’t have to fight. Now I’m using the questions and failures and fear to fuel this fire of mine.” 

I heard this quote today for about the hundredth time while it played in my clean little house. It’s from a song that I found on a random internet search for free music. I don’t even really know who sings it. (Though my iPod does.) But it’s just so applicable. 

Success is like that. You choose what you’re going to do with your tears. It’s not weak to cry them, and it’s not foolish to want to grieve things that are gone, but it is both weak and foolish to allow your tears, loss, or failure lead to more of the same. This is your life; do you know that? No one else lives it for you.

Success really is sometimes your greatest failure. What would have happened if you would have stayed dating that person? What if you would have been stuck in that job before they let you go? What if you had lived in that city your entire life and never saw this one? We all know that the past, if we let it, the failures, if we let them, lead us only to greater success. 

This has been the mantra of this past year in my life. More people than I could even count have done their fair share of ignoring my skills and abilities because of my age. I’ve learned to move right past the disappointment and right into adding that wood to my fire. One piece of wood at a time, I burn brighter, love stronger, and rest fuller. It’s a beautiful place to be. 

It’s a beautiful thing to know that I don’t always have to fight and that most times, I can already live as though the greatness of the future has arrived. 

…because love wins.