The Hidden Weight of Keeping Things Smooth

You Kept It Polite

You stayed polite.
You filtered your needs.

You made things easier than they ever should have been.
And it wore you down.

Not overnight.
But slowly. In the way you second-guess yourself mid-sentence.

In the way your voice gets quieter when you ask for something.
In how much effort it takes to say what you mean without softening it for someone else's comfort.

You didn’t learn that on your own.
You learned it in rooms where people liked you more when you didn't ask for much,
when you kept your opinions to yourself.

You told yourself it wasn’t a big deal.
You told yourself everyone filters a little.
However, over time, it began to require increasingly more energy to show up.
To hold yourself together in conversations that left you feeling unseen.
To keep your needs manageable enough not to lose anyone.

This is a signal that something needs your attention.

You might not know how to say it yet.
You might wonder if asking for clarity makes you demanding.
You might hear old voices telling you to stop being so sensitive.
You might feel shame before the words even leave your mouth.

You’re not imagining that tension.
You’ve been managing it for years.

It makes sense that even the smallest act of expression now feels risky.

But it’s still worth exploring.

Not for anyone else's comfort.
Not for applause or approval.
For you.

To speak.
To be clear.
To stop leaving yourself behind in the name of being good.

You don’t have to figure it out alone.

🖤
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