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My first love broke my heart—and it hurt.

Rejection can be an asshole. It left me wondering, “Why did he leave me?”

There is nothing worse than someone walking away to make you feel not worthy of love.

I could have begged him for another chance. But I refused to let him see me cry. I could have wallowed in the pain and let it consume me. But I refused to let his decision ruin me.

I wasn’t going to allow this loss to defeat me. So I used the pain of that heartache as my anchor to move forward and move on with my life, not once looking back.

Because I believe that success is the best revenge. It’s true in most everything in life but especially when it comes to matters of the heart.

If someone breaks my heart, I become unstoppable. I use the rejection as fuel to get me to the next level. I use the heartache to reevaluate my life. I use the pain to create new goals.

It’s as if that rejection was the push I needed to succeed in life.

And I also believe that the ones who break your heart will always come back.

Why? Because you didn’t let that heartbreak define you. Because you used that heartbreak to get you where you wanted to be. And you didn’t allow one person’s rejection to hold you back from opening yourself up to everything this life has to offer.

So when they see you living your best life without them or becoming the best version of yourself, they stop and think “Oh my god, I screwed up the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Years later, my first love came back.

By that time, it was too late. I was so far past any feelings for him. Yet, he tried everything and anything to get me back. He spent years trying to show me he was the one for me.

Truth be told, it kind of felt good. Like I’d won somehow. I knew I was worthy of love when he broke me. I knew I was the best thing that had happened to him. So I knew he would come back.

But I also knew it would be too late for him.

Success has a way of opening our eyes to reality. It gives perspective to our situation. And it gives us clarity.

Whatever it is that you are going through right now, no matter how many times your heart has been broken or how many people in your life walked away, know this: success can be the best revenge you never knew you needed.

It’s not about trying to prove someone wrong. (Although let’s face it, it does feel good when they admit they made a mistake by walking away.) It’s about proving to ourselves that we have always been worthy of love. The rest will happen on its own.

Often, each heartbreak can seem like the end of the world. So when the one we love comes crawling back, the victory tastes that much sweeter. But success allows us to shine the spotlight on ourselves for a moment, knowing that we weren’t unlovable at all. He just didn’t see it.

Here are six other reasons why success is the ultimate revenge:

1. It helps us find our people.

We discover who our true friends are based off who stuck by us through the worst of times. It’s easy for anyone to stand next to us when things are good but the people who matter are the ones who were always there, through the good times and the bad.

2. It allows us to overcome our fears.

With heartbreak comes fear. And those fears grow each time we are hurt.

Achieving success helps us break through all of the fears that once held us back. Those same breakthroughs transform us into a new person. We are not the same person we once were.

In order to achieve anything worthwhile, we have to overcome our limiting fears. And doing so helps us reach a deeper understanding about life, love, happiness, and our goals.

3. It limits our negativity.

Negativity stems from fear and will take over if we allow it. We realize that it pays to be positive rather than negative, because that’s what helps to carry us through the tough times.

It’s hard to stay positive when someone we cared about broke us. However, when we readjust our thinking, we give ourselves a chance to focus on staying mentally tough and creating a positive mindset. That’s how we eventually reach our goals. That’s how we follow through and achieve big things in life.

4. It helps us discover what we are truly capable of.

When we’re suffering through a breakup, we don’t realize just what we’re capable of. But when we ultimately achieve our goals, we come to the realization of just what we can accomplish when we put our minds to it and stay persistent.

Pushing ourselves to succeed makes us more aware of what we’re capable of. We might even surprise ourselves with what happens when we test the boundaries of improbability.

When we achieve the unachievable, it makes us realize that anything is truly possible. As long as we put our entire heart and soul into it. As long as we  pursue it with every fiber of our being.

5. It proves that our accomplishments speak for themselves.

The world begins to see all that we have accomplished and begins to buzz with excitement. Our success speaks for itself.

It’s an incredible feeling to be able to achieve success, but it’s all that more incredible when the people around us help to elevate our spirit by supporting our accomplishments. And when the ones who broke our hearts hear the news, there’s nothing wrong with taking some pride in throwing them off balance.

6. It makes us an inspiration to others.

When we succeed, we become a symbol of possibility and hope to others around us. Others who have been through the same turmoil may suddenly refocus in order to accomplish their goals, just as we did. Our success inspires them not to give up and to push through the barriers that once held them back in the past. It inspires them to realize their own potential.

We can use heartbreak as a roadmap to achieve the unachievable.

We can turn heartbreak into success in every aspect of our lives.

And we can utilize that success to help us prove what is possible in life when we refuse to give up, when we refuse to let a broken heart lead the way.

Always choose success.

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