What You’re Not Changing, You’re Choosing

(And some part of you already knows it.)

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

There’s a quiet kind of grief that shows up when you realize your life is full of things you said yes to to avoid harder conversations.

That job you’re still complaining about? You didn’t walk out, so you stayed.
That relationship you keep venting about? You didn’t leave, so you stayed.
That version of yourself you’ve outgrown, but keep performing? You didn’t shed it, so you stayed.

Let’s call it what it is:

What you’re not changing, you’re choosing.

I’m not saying that to shame you. I’m saying it to set you free.

Because once you realize that, you stop waiting for permission. You stop writing off your own exhaustion as “just the season you’re in.” You stop pretending you’re powerless when deep down, you know, you’ve just been playing small.

Most don’t consciously choose burnout, boredom, or beige lives. We just delay the decision long enough that it starts making itself.

We tell ourselves we’re being patient when we’re really just scared.
We tell ourselves we’re loyal when we’re really just stuck.
We tell ourselves it’s “not that bad,” because we…