There Were Things I Needed to Hear Earlier

There were things I needed to hear earlier.

That rest is not laziness.
That softness is not weakness.
That being needed is not the same thing as being loved.

I needed someone to tell me survival should not require self-erasure.

That constantly understanding everyone else while abandoning yourself is not emotional maturity.

It is exhaustion.

I needed to hear that boundaries are not cruelty.
That leaving harmful environments is allowed.
That grief can exist even when walking away was the right decision.

Most importantly, I needed to hear this:

You are not difficult for finally asking for the same care you gave everyone else freely.

Maybe that is what healing becomes in the end.

Learning how to speak gently to the versions of yourself that only ever knew how to survive.

You deserved compassion long before you learned how to earn it.

Healing is learning to stop speaking to yourself in the language of survival.