I remember telling myself that no one, no one, can make you feel unclean. No one can make you feel...less. Only you have the power to do that to yourself. 

I still believe that. 

But yet I feel lesser now. I feel stained, I feel like no amount of showers can wash this feeling away. 

I don't know how to - 

It all boils down to the same thing. Grit your teeth and focus on what you can focus on. Understand that everyone makes mistakes. Be kind to yourself. 

But these words, so often repeated, feel so hollow. 

I guess when we are in a sea of dark things, hollow words are no worse than solid ones; I do know that sometimes we just need to hold on. Rain and shine, spring and summer, day and night, happiness and sadness; this, too, shall pass.