Have you ever caught your reflection and thought, When did I start looking so tired?
Not tired because you didn't sleep well. Tired because you've been carrying everyone else for so long that somewhere along the way, you stopped carrying yourself.
It doesn't happen overnight.
You don't wake up one morning and decide to lose yourself.
It happens one "yes" at a time.
One more favor.
One more late night.
One more apology.
One more dream you put on the shelf because someone else needed you more.
Until one day you realize you can't remember the last time you laughed so hard your stomach hurt, or did something simply because you wanted to.
The hardest part?
From the outside, your life probably looks great.
People tell you how lucky you are.
How strong you are.
How much you have going for you.
Meanwhile, you're standing in the shower wondering when you became a stranger in your own life.
I've been there.
I know what it's like to become so busy being everything for everyone else that you disappear without even noticing.
But here's what I also know.
You are not gone.
You're buried.
Under expectations.
Under guilt.
Under responsibilities.
Under the version of yourself you thought everyone else needed.
And buried things still grow.
You don't need to become someone new.
You just need to come home to the woman you used to be before the world convinced you she was too much.
You don't need to find yourself. You need to stop abandoning yourself.
-JDS