"If the world is cold..."

[Source.]

I have been told, on more than one occasion, that I am a "people pleaser" and that quality was my biggest weakness. For a long time I thought that I needed to be more selfish and to forget the needs of others around me. I couldn't quite put my finger on why that never sat well with me. I couldn't figure out why putting myself before others made me feel more miserable than I would have felt if I were to put others before me. I ended up coming to the realization that my compassion towards other human beings was NOT a weakness, but my greatest strength.

If you spend as much time on the internet as I do, you know just how negative and cruel people can be towards their peers, and often for no real reason at all other than getting a kick out of being an internet troll. I never understood what brings a person to be, for lack of a better word, a complete and utter douchebag. I have been bullied growing up more times than I'd like to recount. I know what it is like to feel like crap at the words of someone else, and I even know what it is like to do the bullying. The conclusion that I've come to at the age of 24 is that I never want to be a shitty person like that ever again. It blows my mind that some people know exactly how much the world is hurting and will continue to throw salt on the wound anyway.

You need someone to talk to? I'm all ears. You need a shoulder to cry on or someone to hug or a hand to hold? I'm right here. You want someone to blow off some steam with at the gym? Shit, I'm on my way! In a world that needs love and compassion, I will always strive to be the person to provide that for those who are in need of them.