I didn't know when the scars were searing my soul, that they were also creating an empathetic heart that would one day, understand another's pain and know how to ease it.

I didn't know when I was young, and couldn't speak, and felt unheard, that my mind was already learning how to turn the written word into an art form.

I didn't know when love all but disappeared from my life, that an abundant amount of it was just waiting for me at a place in my life when I could appreciate it the most and learn how to give it in the most unselfish of ways.

I'm thankful for all the things in my past that I haven't known. For it's through the act of learning the lessons from them that I've made the biggest strides in realizing the person I was destined to be.