Somewhere along the way...

you got used to living without parts of yourself.

Not all at once.

Quietly.

Gradually.

Until living without parts of yourself became normal...

and carrying what wasn't yours started to feel normal too.

You stopped questioning the weight.

You stopped noticing the distance.

You stopped remembering what it felt like to be deeply connected to yourself.

The deepest cost was never the carrying itself.

It was losing touch with the parts of you that made you feel most alive.

The part of you that trusted your inner knowing.

The part of you that felt deeply at home within yourself.

The part of you that knew how to move through life without constantly abandoning yourself to meet everyone else's needs.

You're not grieving who you used to be.

You're grieving the relationship you once had with yourself.