Tag: recovery journey

  • Stuck

    I’m stuck here—

    in this space between

    who I was

    and who I fought to become.

    And I’m scared.

    Not of falling apart loudly.

    Not of breaking in some obvious way.

    I’m scared of the quiet slide.

    The subtle shift.

    The old voice clearing its throat

    inside my head.

    I remember her.

    The version of me

    that didn’t care

    what burned

    as long as I felt something.

    The one who mistook chaos

    for control.

    Who called self-destruction

    freedom.

    Who wore damage

    like armor.

    I buried her.

    Or maybe I just

    outgrew her.

    But sometimes

    when I feel cornered,

    when life presses too close

    to my ribs,

    I feel her move.

    Not gone.

    Just waiting.

    I don’t want to lose control.

    I don’t want to wake up

    one morning

    recognizing the hunger

    in my own hands again.

    I worked too hard

    to soften.

    Too hard to breathe

    before reacting.

    Too hard to choose quiet

    over fire.

    Being stuck

    is better than being reckless.

    Stillness

    is better than self-sabotage.

    If this is the space

    between breaking

    and becoming—

    then I will stand here.

    Shaking.

    But standing.

    Because the fact

    that I’m afraid

    of going back

    means I already know

    I don’t belong there anymore.

  • A Chance

    You gave me a chance

    when they had already decided

    I was done.

    When my mistakes were louder

    than my effort,

    when my name came with footnotes,

    when worth felt conditional

    and temporary.

    They saw my failures

    and stopped there.

    You saw the space after—

    the trying,

    the rebuilding,

    the quiet work no one applauds.

    You didn’t flinch at my history.

    Didn’t ask me to explain

    every scar.

    You just handed me room

    to be more

    than what broke me.

    You believed in a version of me

    I was still learning how to trust.

    You treated me like someone

    becoming—

    not someone ruined.

    And maybe you’ll never know

    how much that mattered.

    How being given a chance

    can feel like oxygen

    when you’ve been holding your breath

    for years.

    You gave me a chance

    when they thought I was worthless—

    and in doing so,

    you reminded me

    I never was.