The Gentle Thing Inside

Thank you for staying alive all this time.

I am not going to tell you that life is hard. You already know. I am not going to ask you to stay strong either. You have been strong for longer than anyone should have to be.

You know what you have lived through. You know what it took to wake up, continue, and carry yourself through days that asked too much from you.

So this is not another reminder to keep fighting.
It is a reminder that you are allowed to stop being cruel to yourself.

You do not need to earn rest. You do not need to explain why you are tired. You do not need to become better before you deserve care.

For once, speak to yourself the way you speak to the people you love. Hold your own pain without rushing it. Forgive yourself for the ways you survived when you did not know what else to do.

There is still something gentle inside you.
Please do not abandon it.