Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.


    About eight months ago, my life was flipped on its head. My boyfriend of almost 3 years ended things. I was destroyed but attempted to remain friends as much as it hurt to do so, simply because I had talked to this person every day since the end of eighth grade. Despite all that I was going through I also spent a lot of time reflecting on the hell he put me through. It wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine over the years; in fact, it was a lot more rain than rainbows. When he wasn’t threatening to kill himself every day he was with someone else or doing drugs. It took a toll on me emotionally. Though for about a year things were really good. I told him things I had never told anyone ever before. It caused me to become reliant on him. He was my coping mechanism and for awhile I was his. Even when he wanted nothing to do with me he still came to me for help.  I didn’t want to leave him I just wanted him to be better because I knew he could if he exerted the tiniest amount of self-control. But that never happened.
Though I was devastated at the breakup, I also felt strangely free. For the first time, I could do whatever I want and I didn’t have to build my life around him. I could open up emotionally to other people and go to college wherever I want, the possibilities seemed endless. So I kept trudging through the school year. My grades took a hit. And then something incredible happened; I met this cat who had seizures and a disorder where she couldn’t stop shaking. We were initially going to get rid of her but I kept her. She meant so much to me that I forgot about all the drama for a while. I named her April after a show called Your Lie In April, which I often watched over when things got bad.  I loved her and I loved taking care of her and I loved her personality. In the end, like most good things, it was short-lived. She died a few weeks later. I was gone. It sent me off the deep end. I genuinely believed that my mental health would finally get the better of me. Upon receiving the news that April died and my reaction to it, my ex decided to cut contact with me, claiming that all I did was talk about my mental health anymore and that he didn’t want to be associated with me anymore.
I lost my best friend and my cat on the same day. Normally I would’ve tried to reconcile with him and kept talking to him, but he knew that April meant everything to me and he decided to cut contact on receiving the news that she died. Frankly, that was eye-opening to me. If he didn’t care enough to help me what I was going through in my darkest hour, then I probably shouldn’t have kept him around even if I wanted to. So I didn’t, that was the last time I talked to him. Honestly, I’ve felt so much more at ease since then and I decided to cut out the people in my life who made me feel the same way he did. I’m not over my ex, and I couldn’t tell you when I will be, but I am better with him out of my life. It also made me realize that I could be independent. That I didn’t have to be dependent on someone at all times and I could just live with myself, and cope by myself. I’ll always have friends of course but I don’t want to ever rely on anyone entirely ever again.