The Things That Stay

Some things leave.

People.

Promises.

Versions of yourself

you thought would last forever.

They slip away quietly,

without asking permission,

without caring

how badly you wanted them to stay.

I used to chase them.

Used to run after endings

like I could change their minds,

like enough love,

enough effort,

enough pain

could make something remain.

But loss

has never listened to bargaining.

It takes what it takes.

And eventually

you get tired

of chasing ghosts

through doors

that only open one way.

So you stop.

Not because it hurts less.

Because you finally understand

that some things

aren’t meant to be carried forever.

Still—

not everything leaves.

The lessons stay.

The scars.

The songs that remind you

of who you were.

The strength you never wanted

but somehow earned.

And maybe

that’s the strange gift of surviving—

realizing that while life

takes more than its share,

it leaves something behind too.

A wiser heart.

A deeper soul.

A quieter understanding

of what truly matters.

So let the leaving happen.

Let the endings end.

Trust that what belongs to you

isn’t always the thing that stays—

sometimes it’s the person

you become

after it’s gone.