That's okay!

The world loves sad people,

as long as they are quietly sad.

The world loves broken people,

as long as they keep smiling.

The world loves encouragement,

as long as the encouragement doesn't require it to really listen.

"It'll be okay."

"Move forward."

"Be strong."

"Smile."

As if pain is something to hide,

and not something to go through.

As if feeling is weakness,

and as if pretending is bravery.

But maybe strength is not smiling when it hurts.

Maybe strength is admitting it hurts and moving on anyway.

Maybe strength is not hiding the cracks,

but understanding that they don't make us any less whole.

And no, not everything is always okay.

But everything doesn't have to be okay for us to keep growing.