Chapter 14
Healing wasn't sudden.
It didn't come with a moment where everything clicked into place.
It was slow.
Unsteady.
Some days felt like progress.
Other days felt like I was right back where I started.
But I kept going.
Even when it was uncomfortable.
Even when I doubted myself.
I learned to sit with my emotions instead of suppressing them.
To acknowledge them without letting them consume me.
I learned that strength wasn't about never breaking.
It was about rebuilding yourself each time you did.
Piece by piece.
Breath by breath.
I stopped expecting perfection from myself.
Stopped measuring my worth based on how much I could endure.
And for the first time,
I allowed myself to exist without conditions.
Not as someone trying to survive.
But as someone allowed to live.