Slowly, I Came Back

For a long time, I didn’t recognize myself.

I watched life pass me by like a train I couldn’t catch. Days blurred together. I wasn’t the friend I used to be, not the daughter, not the girl with plans and passion. I was just... surviving. And some days, even that felt like too much.

There were moments I truly believed I had lost my way forever. That this, the heaviness, the pause, the silence would be all there was. I saw people my age moving forward, graduating, starting businesses, traveling. And I couldn’t even get out of bed some mornings. I hated how far behind I felt.

But what no one really talks about is how healing doesn’t arrive all at once. It’s not loud. It’s not Instagram worthy. Sometimes, it starts with sitting in the sun for ten minutes. Drinking enough water. Opening your laptop and trying, just trying, to believe you still have something to offer.

That’s how it happened for me. Quietly. Gently.

Now, years later, I’m finishing my studies again at my own pace. I'm dreaming again, but softly this time. I’ve started doing small things for myself. Things that remind me I’m still here. Still capable. Still becoming.

I’m not “back to normal.” I don’t think I want to go back to who I was. I’m building something new now. Something softer. Stronger. More mine.

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If you’re reading this and feel like everything’s too far gone it’s not.
Even when it feels like nothing is changing, something inside you is quietly growing. Keep going. Even the smallest step forward is still a step.

-N