There is something that has been on my mind recently, and I cannot seem to shake it.  It is about girls who date guys who treat them like the dirt they walk on.

I hate to admit it, but I used to be one of those girls who let her boyfriend walk all over her and say anything he wanted to; but I have grown up and grown into my own skin.

I have learned that I do not deserve to be treated like that. It takes a lot for girls these days to see just how beautiful and worthy they are of a great relationship.

For some reason, there are girls who still think that being treated like crap is normal and acceptable, and I completely understand the idea of “love is blind,” because I have lived it.

You develop such strong feelings for a person that you let red flags slide because you think, “he did not mean it,” “he will not do that again,” or “he was just mad”.

You make excuses for them because you think you “love” them. But is there a time when you wake up and realize just how destructive a relationship really is?

It took me a year to realize that I needed to end things with my ex. He was so good at manipulating the situation and turning things around to me, where I would be the one feeling bad; but in fact, he should have been feeling the regret.

I learned that in a relationship when you love someone, you never say mean things to them, you never do things to purposely hurt them, and you never make them feel like less of a person than they are.

I know that we all have our breaking points where there is only so much a person can handle or put up with until they finally are just done with it, but should we be feeling that the first time a man ever talks down to us or makes us feel less about ourselves?

Why do we wait so long to realize we are in a toxic relationship? We continue in this vicious cycle because we believe that we love this person who treats us so poorly.

I do not know if it is because girls think that they cannot do any better or that they just start to believe all the negative things their boyfriends are saying so that they think they should be lucky that their boyfriend wants them.

I now realize, for me, I did not want to be alone. I was insecure in my own skin, and I was not truly happy with who I was.  I thought I needed a man to complete me, where in reality I needed myself to feel complete.

It was not until I ended this relationship that I started to appreciate myself, and as silly as this may sound, I started to love myself. I learned that I deserve the world. I should never be talked to disrespectfully and I should never allow a man to determine how I feel about myself.

I think it is about time that other girls realize what they are doing to themselves by being in such damaging relationships.

If they would just open their eyes, they would see they are missing out on what it is like to be in a healthy relationship with someone who loves them unconditionally and would never say or do anything to hurt them.

They need to find that inner confidence and never let it go.  Everyone deserves to be with someone who brings out the best in them, not tear them down.