“Do not hold spaces in your heart for those who are not showing up to claim it.” Reading that line hit me hard. It woke me up to the reality that everything that happened in the past was, somehow, my fault. I kept believing my love was too strong to let go—but the truth is, it was the weakest kind. Shame on me for telling people how I’ve been holding on to this so-called love for so long, when I never really did anything to keep it alive. She was right all along. She couldn’t trust my words because they were nothing but empty noise. My voice was loud enough to tell the world how much I loved her, yet I couldn’t even show it through my actions. Funny how I was so full of myself—so proud of holding on, thinking that my love for you would never fade. I never realized I was only looking at a hypocrite in the mirror. I’m mad at myself. I am to blame. Who am I to tell you that you deserved better than me, when I never had the right to decide what you deserve? I was just a loud, empty noise—so maybe it’s time to finally shut up. To stop convincing myself that I’m still in love with you, when I’m just being selfish. The world doesn’t need to know these feelings of mine for you, because they don’t matter anymore. Shame on you, self.