There was a time when I kept trying to go back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back to how things used<\/em> to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back to the spark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back to the simplicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back to the version of me who did<\/em> speak up\u2014until I realized people didn\u2019t like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I swallowed my truth. Bit my tongue. Softened the edges of who I was just to keep the peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it never really felt like peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It felt like performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because any connection that requires you to hide parts of yourself isn\u2019t connection at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wanted to be loved, but not just the quiet, agreeable version of me\u2014the full, complicated, truth-telling version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And as I grew, I started noticing how many of the relationships around me couldn\u2019t hold that version.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The people closest to me\u2014friends, family\u2014weren\u2019t interested in expanding, evolving, or meeting me in the deep end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They wanted things to stay the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They clung to routine, to comfort, to conversations that never asked too much of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I get it\u2014change is scary. Growth is uncomfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But so is pretending you\u2019re fine when your soul is aching for more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I tried to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I tried to make it work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I dimmed myself. I made small talk. I looked for connection in places that had long stopped offering it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But eventually, I realized: I\u2019d rather be alone than surrounded by people who fear becoming more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because growth doesn\u2019t look like harmony. It often looks like tension, misalignment, loneliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It feels like standing in a room full of people you love and knowing you\u2019re no longer willing to betray yourself to belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m no longer trying to \u201cgo back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The past may feel familiar, but it\u2019s not where I\u2019m meant to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m here for what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The honest conversations. The vulnerable truths. The kind of love that can weather evolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So if you\u2019ve been holding back to keep things comfortable\u2014ask yourself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is it really connection if you have to hide to keep it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let them stay where they are if they must.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You? You\u2019re becoming someone your past self never could\u2019ve imagined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that deserves to be seen, honored, and lived\u2014fully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tenderly. Imperfectly. Wide awake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now\u2026 what truth are you<\/em> ready to finally stop hiding?<\/p>\n\n\n\n As for me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know I\u2019m no longer hiding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take me or leave me\u2014either way, I know my value and my worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I truly hope you find that for yourself too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There was a time when I kept trying to go back. Back to how things used to be. Back to the spark. Back to the simplicity. Back to the version of me who did speak up\u2014until I realized people didn\u2019t like it. So I swallowed my truth. Bit my tongue. Softened the edges of who I was just to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,3,48,46,39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-critical-thinking","category-empowerment","category-growth","category-healing","category-inspiration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":947,"href":"https:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945\/revisions\/947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prolificpreambles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}