The Weight of Staying Part 2.
If I'm being honest,
The past few months,
Maybe even the past year,
I felt split between the grip of burnout and the call of my ambition.
And it created all these kinds of questions within me around what it meant to stay the path.
And see,
I used to think that staying meant being strong,
Always having all the answers,
Always pushing,
Always proving.
But these days,
Strength feels more like steadiness.
Staying connected to myself,
Even when I feel disoriented,
And learning how to hold what matters without trying to hold everything.
I've had to let go of the version of success I thought I needed in order to feel legitimate.
And I've had to admit that my growth sometimes looks like pausing,
Recalibrating,
And even saying no to things that used to prove my worth.
I'm more in the version of myself who thought she could carry it all.
Of course I do.
And yet,
I've also discovered a deeper kind of resilience.
One rooted in staying present rather than survival.
One that allows me to feel worthy even when things feel uncertain or undone.
Dignity and wisdom lives in these places too.
And I'm so grateful for this simple truth.