Onward.

This is for the hard times. Those rough days. This is for the tough ones that carry the world on their backs, still managing a smile even while being crushed by it's weight. This is for the single parent who isn't allowed to crumble because there's no time for human emotion when someone else relies on you.  This is for the human being that stands in her kitchen, lonely and exhausted, sobbing silently to avoid the scornful questions of her observant children, because how dare you have a shred of human emotion, so she makes sure the trails of mascara are cleaned away before she turns her face to the world again.  This is for the days when everyone demands a piece of you, even when you barely have enough pieces just to keep yourself whole. This is for the sacrifices, the sleepless nights, the heartbreak, the loneliness, the feelings of desperation. The isolation. This is for the breakdowns, and the breakthroughs. This is for the darkness, and for those that struggle to find the light.

I see you. 

You're not misunderstood. You're not alone.  I see you. When you read things like this and they stab you in the center of your chest, and you feel like words on a page are finally spelling out the hurt in your heart, that's because I'm a someone just like you and I get it; this is my salute to all the other someones who feel like they fight these battles alone. We are soldiers of the same war, and you have my empathy.
The rough days fight to break you.  Give yourself room to bend, to breathe, to lick your wounds so you can live to battle on tomorrow and the tomorrow after that, and don't stop until you finally reach that place where the rough days are few and your heart and mind are strong enough to easily carry you through them. Fill your own cup before depleting yourself to fill someone else's. Give yourself the opportunity to feel, cry, scream, and say NO. Keep pushing forward in search of better days, and you will undoubtedly find them. Most importantly, remember that the person staring back at you in the mirror never has to struggle alone.