Is your life going great? Are you satisfied with your relationships? Does your job make you feel happy and fulfilled? Have you fulfilled all your goals and dreams?

Well, if you answered yes to all the questions, then, my friend, this article is not for you. You have everything going for you in life. But, if you answered no to at least one of the questions, then, you’d better continue reading the article because we have something important to share with you.

Life doesn’t always go according to plan. Things we never wanted and expected to happen somehow always find a way to appear in our life.  And sometimes life can get pretty complicated and hard.

But when things aren’t going exactly the way we wanted them, do we prefer to be told a sugar-coated lie or the harsh truth? The real question is: Which one of these will help us grow and become better people?

Well, if your answer was the harsh truth, you got that right. Undeniably, facing the ugly, brutal truth is hard, but it’s necessary. Because only when you face the harsh truth about life, i.e. start to see and accept things for what they are, will you be able to find out what’s keeping you away from achieving happiness and success.

Only when you stop living under illusions, will you be able to understand why you’re falling behind in life and what you can do to change that.

Accepting the brutal truth is a hard pill to swallow, but, at the end of the day, your life and happiness are your responsibility and no one else’s.

So, if you want your life to become easier, here are 8 harsh truths you need to accept:

1. No one is too busy to respond to you.

That friend of yours who didn’t text you back the other day was not too busy to answer your text. That boss wasn’t too busy to answer your e-mail. When a person is not answering your calls or texts, it’s because they’ve purposely chosen not to.

We all get busy sometimes, but that’s not an excuse for not responding to our friends, family, colleagues, or whoever. After all, it takes only a minute or two to send someone a message telling them you’re up to your neck in work and that you’ll call them back later.

And the person to whom you’re important and who cares about you will never ignore your calls or messages. They’ll always find a way to respond to you.

2. Everyone has their own best interests at heart.

No matter how kind, caring, and loving a person is, the truth is that they’ll always focus on and take care of their own needs more than of yours. Even the most loyal and supportive friend may not realize they’re taking too much from you if you never tell them that they’re doing so. Even the best employer may not be aware that you’re working your a** off if you keep accepting every task or project he/she gives you.

Therefore, you need to set clear, firm boundaries. You need to learn to tell other people NO for things you don’t want and don’t have time to do because you know how they say – if you don’t stick up for yourself, no one else will.

3. Beautiful moments are transient.

When we’re happy, we want that to last forever. But, happiness is not eternal. It’s just a passing moment in time. And the sooner you understand this, the more you’ll appreciate what you have in life now and the less you’ll complain about what you’re missing.

So, instead of complaining about your problems and worrying about your future, try to spend more quality time with the people you love. Hug them. Kiss them. Show them how much they mean to you. Enjoy spending time with them while you still have the chance.

And, of course, try to make time for the things that you enjoy doing the most and that make you feel happy and fulfilled.

4. It’s impossible to please everyone.

If you try to do everything other people want you to do and if you try to be the person others expect and want you to be, have you ever thought how you’d end up? Here, I’ll tell you: you’ll end up feeling disappointed, lifeless, and empty? Why?

Because there will always be someone who will criticize your choices, decisions, and actions. No matter how good you are to someone, they’ll always find fault with the way you treat them.

Therefore, you shouldn’t try to please everybody. Instead, do the things you love and that make you happy. Live your life the way you want to and never allow other people’s opinions and expectations of you to shape your personality and life.

5. The world doesn’t owe you anything.

You may be the smartest and most capable person in the world, but if you don’t put those qualities to work, all that will be in vain. You need to put your brain and skills to work if you want to get where you want to be in life.

You can’t just sit and do nothing and wait for someone else to pursue your goals and dreams, fulfill your responsibilities at home and at work, or solve your problems. Nobody owes you anything. So, decide what you want to achieve in life and go out in the world and get it.

6. Complaining about your limitations won’t get you anywhere.

You can spend your whole life complaining to other people that you don’t have the resources, energy, or time to achieve the things you want. But, even if that’s true, complaining to others about your limitations won’t help you get what you want out of life.

So, instead of whining all the time, start to work on and improve yourself. Learn a new skill, ask for someone’s help if you need it, kick your bad habits, and get rid of all the things that are standing in the way to your success. Remember, it’s not through complaining that you’ll get where you want to be in life, but through taking action.

7. It’s your actions that count, not your thoughts.

You can have the greatest ideas and plans about how you can improve your life and make the world a better place, but if you don’t go out there and start making changes, they’ll continue to be just that – ideas.

Ideas and plans, no matter how big or small, are nothing if they’re not followed by action. And at the end of the day, your character is defined not by your thoughts, but by your actions.

8. No one is going to save you from life.

When we’re going through rough time, we tend to hope that some change or miracle will come along and make our problems disappear. We hope that someone will come along and ease out our troubles and alleviate our pain.

But the truth is that no one is going to come to save us from our misery. No one is going to make the change we need to make ourselves. The only person who can save and protect you is yourself.

Before we start, I want to make one thing clear: apologizing for your mistakes or hurtful words and things you’ve said or done to someone is not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a noble, positive human trait. It shows that you’re a mature person and that you’re also able and willing to take responsibility for your mistakes.

But, have you ever wondered if the thing you’re apologizing for really deserves your apology? Chances are you’ve said “I’m sorry” many times for things that don’t require an apology. Why? Because they’re necessary for your own happiness, confidence, self-respect, and growth, both personal and professional.

You know, there will always be people who will criticize the way you live your life. People who will expect you to give them an explanation for your decisions, choices, and actions. But at the end of the day, what really matters is whether you’re happy and satisfied with your life.

If you feel comfortable in your own skin and you live your life in accordance with your beliefs and moral principles and values, you don’t have to feel ashamed, or worry about what others think of you, or apologize to anyone. You don’t have to justify your actions to anyone because no one has the right to dictate the course of your life.

So, here are 8 things you should never say “I’m sorry” for:

1. Making yourself your top priority.

Somehow, taking care of yourself and fighting for your happiness started to be seen as a selfish, entitled idea. But, it’s absurd to think that prioritizing yourself over everyone and everything else is selfish.

There’s nothing selfish about taking care of your own feelings, needs, and problems. There’s nothing selfish about taking care of your mental, emotional, and physical well-being. There’s nothing selfish about loving yourself.

Maybe some will disagree with me, but the truth is that no one can give you the happiness and fulfillment that you can give to yourself. No one can decide for you what makes you happy and what’s best for you. You’re the one who gets to make those decisions because you’re 100 percent responsible for your own life and happiness.

At the end of the day, how can you take care of others and help solve their problems if you don’t take care of your own and bother to help yourself first?

2. Showing your emotions.

Unfortunately, many people feel uncomfortable expressing their emotions. And honestly, this is no wonder because we live in a society where we’re expected not to show how we feel.

Showing feelings of sadness, anger, or fear is perceived as a sign of weakness and immaturity and as something shameful.

But, there’s nothing about your feelings, both positive and negative, that you should be ashamed of. Not being able to express them only makes you feel uncomfortable, stressed out, and frustrated.  

Of course, you should not let your emotions get the best of you, like when you’re angry at someone. You probably shouldn’t start yelling at your colleagues, or let alone your boss, and make drama in front of everyone just because you’re having a bad day. There’s always an appropriate place and time to express your feelings.

3. Choosing who to date.

Never be ashamed when someone tells you something like: “Oh, so, you started dating him/her, ha? I bet you couldn’t have chosen someone more stupid and uglier than them.” Because no one has the right to tell you who you should engage in a romantic relationship with.

The only thing that matters is whether you really love and care about that person. So, as long as you feel that way, people can say whatever they want. That’s not your problem. Period.

4. Your opinions.

Never apologize for and hesitate to put forward your opinions, ideas, and arguments, no matter how different they are from the popular belief. We’re all different, so, it’s perfectly normal for our opinions to differ too.

But the point is that no matter how different your ideas and attitudes are from someone else’s, you can always disagree with them in a polite, calm, civilized manner.

And remember, keeping your opinions to yourself will not change or make the world a better place. So, don’t hesitate and don’t be afraid to speak your mind.

5. Your past.

There always be those who will judge and criticize you for your past mistakes and failures. But, what you need to remember is that your past doesn’t define you.

We all make mistakes, hurt others by saying things we don’t mean, and fail. But, these are all valuable experiences we learn from and which make us wiser and stronger.

So, don’t allow anyone to make you feel unworthy and bad for your past. Your past is just that-PAST, and it certainly doesn’t determine your worth.

6. Being ambitious.

Never apologize for aspiring for more in life and keeping your dreams unrestricted. Being ambitious doesn’t make you spoiled, ungrateful, or an unrealistic dreamer.

Instead, it means you have goals, dreams, and passions that you want to fulfill. It means you know you’re capable of doing that. It means you believe in your abilities and strength.

So, never listen to others when they tell you: You can’t do that. Stop Dreaming. Get back to reality. Instead, keep believing in yourself and go after your dreams.

7. The way you earn your money.

If your job makes you feel happy and emotionally fulfilled, why would you care about what others think and say about it? Everyone has the right to choose their career. 

And if you’re satisfied with your job, it doesn’t matter whether you earn millions or hundreds a year. So, never allow yourself to feel ashamed and less important than someone who makes more money than you. Because the money you earn and all the material things you have can’t determine your worth and happiness.

And if someone feels and acts like they’re more important than you because of the way they earn their living, well, that’s their problem – not yours.

8. Not being a conformist.

When a person is dissatisfied with their own life, they criticize others so as to make themselves feel better. But, what does this have to do with you? Of course, nothing.

So, keep living your life the way you want to live it and don’t pay attention to what others think about it. If you don’t want to continue your education, don’t do it. If you want to grow your own vegetables, do it. If you don’t want to get married, don’t do it. If you believe food is the only cure for diseases and not medicine, stick to your belief. You don’t need to apologize for any of these.

When you make a decision to leave someone and make them a part of your past, pay attention to what you say to that person. When you say your final goodbye, think twice about how you’re going to do that. Think twice about what words you’re going to use.

Because words have power. Because once you say them aloud, you can’t take them back. Because words can kill someone’s happiness, strength, and hopes.

You see, there’s this girl who looks pretty normal on the outside. She’s smart and beautiful. She looks self-confident, fulfilled, and happy. She appears like she doesn’t have a single care on her mind.

Yet, her real life is a completely different story.

She looks confident and happy on the outside, but underneath that strong exterior, there’s a person who is struggling to accept her insecurities, fears, and mistakes. A person who thinks she is not good enough. A person who feels empty and lost.

She is smart and beautiful to some and to others not so much. Some like her and others not so much. But none of this would be important to her, if she felt good in her own skin. If she was good enough for herself.

But, tell me, how can someone love and value themselves when they’ve spent their entire life being told they were unworthy?

How can you accept and appreciate yourself the way you are when the person who means the world to you doesn’t miss a day to remind you how useless, dumb, and unworthy you are?

When the person you love the most and make your top priority doesn’t bother to choose you?

You know, when someone you truly love and care about treats you and makes you feel like you’re unimportant day after day, no matter how strong you may think you are, there will always be words of doubt hovering over your head telling you: you’re weak, you’re not good enough.

And this is exactly what happened to her.

She gave her heart to someone who didn’t know what to do with it. She completely devoted herself to someone who didn’t even bother to pay attention to her. Someone who didn’t know how to respond to and appreciate her kindness, compassion, patience, love, and commitment.

She loved and trusted someone who didn’t want to admit that she was better than him and that he didn’t deserve her. Someone who treated her like she was just an option to him and nothing else.

But, I suppose that’s the price you pay when you give your heart and soul to someone who is still not ready to commit to you.

I guess that’s how you get weakened and defeated. That’s how your happiness and hopes get crushed.

So, is it now easier for you to understand how this girl feels?

Today she can’t find the courage to move on with her life. Today she can’t find the strength within herself to be her old self again.

She knows she has many battles to fight to be the person she once was, but she feels exhausted and weak. She feels confused and lost.

She feels like nothing she does is ever good enough. She doubts her feelings, her thoughts, her decisions. She doubts every step she makes.

She feels like she’s no longer in control of her life.

She doubts and blames herself.

She blames herself for everything she is and for everything she’s been through. She keeps asking herself whether she would be better off today if she’d been smarter, funnier, and more interesting. If she’d laughed more and done more of what was expected from her.

She blames herself for every person who left her.

People often say she’s negative and lazy, but that’s not true. She’s been knocked down by life so many times that she neither has the strength nor the idea how to get up and move forward. She feels like she’s trapped in a black hole and it’s really hard for her to find the way out on her own.

All she needs is someone who will believe in her. Someone who will encourage her to make the first step towards her freedom and happiness.

She needs someone who will remind her of her worth. Someone who will be there to catch her if she falls again.

She needs someone who will remind her that not every person she likes is good. That not everyone deserves her trust and love. That not everyone is worthy of her tears. That pain doesn’t last forever and that she mustn’t lose hope.

She needs a man who will accept and cherish her the way she is. A man who won’t expect her to prove herself. A man who will let her know that she doesn’t need to seek other people’s validation because she’s more than good enough. She’s perfect the way she is.

She deserves a man who will give her everything she craves and more.

So, please, when you meet this woman, show her that you truly believe she’s more than good enough. Show her how much she means to you. Tell her that her insecurities, fears, and mistakes don’t and can’t determine her worth.

Be kind to her. Be gentle and loving.

Be patient with her and help her recover. Because when she does that, you’ll see she was worth all the effort.

Show her that she can rely on you for anything and that you’ll always be there for her.

And most importantly, show her that there’s a strong, fearless, amazing woman inside of her – a woman who is more than ready to embrace life, love, and be loved.