Not all heroes come swooping in to rescue a damsel in distress. I think the greatest heroes are the ones that inspire us, the ones that help us recognize the hero within ourselves.

She wore her vulnerability like red lipstick, with nothing else.

I wanted her to know that she was. She was whoever she saw herself as. I wanted her to know that we defined who we were, and we couldn’t let the mirror or Facebook or even the people closest to us make that decision. We couldn’t let others who had things we didn’t — like tails — make us feel any less than we were.

Not everyone is going to love us. And that's OK. There's nothing like rejection to make a vulnerable person question their worth. But do not let your reflection in the mirror be distorted by what you imagined someone else saw.

So often, we don’t see the beauty in ourselves. If we keep observing our reflection in the distorted mirrors of bad relationships, we start believing we are ugly and unlovable. And the flaws aren’t in how we look, but in whose eyes we’re seeing ourselves through.

Relationships don't break you; they reveal you.

It’s unfortunate that inflated self-worth is being mistaken for confidence when it’s really an indication of the opposite. True confidence is reflected through humility, vulnerability and kindness. It’s quiet. It’s subtle. It does not overwhelm. It does not shrink others down to elevate oneself and it doesn’t not knock others down to give the illusion of being above.

He was the wall I broke myself against. As I tried to tear down his walls, I was freed from my own.

Never again, would I use someone's approval as a thermometer for my self-worth.