There comes a point where you stop asking, “Do they love me?” and start asking, “What is this costing me to stay?” Coming home to yourself is strange at first because your nervous system got so used to surviving. Used to reading moods.

Used to overthinking. Used to trying to hold everything together. And then one day you notice life feels different. You’re sitting with your family actually listening to their stories instead of being trapped in your head. You wake up and realize your body isn’t in a constant state of tension.

You start thinking about your future again instead of spending all your energy trying to save a relationship that keeps hurting you. And maybe the biggest shift is this, you stop believing love has to cost your peace to be real. That part took me a long time to understand.

Because I really did love deeply. I would’ve stayed continue to built a life there. But eventually I had to be honest about the difference between loving someone and losing yourself trying to make it work.

There’s still sadness sometimes for what I hoped it could’ve been. But underneath all of that is something else now. Relief.

There Is No Place Like You: The Yellow Brick Illusion is available on Amazon.

Join the journey 💛 michele-natale