I used to think you were the enemy.
That I had to silence you, outrun you, overpower you.
But now I know the truth:
you were only trying to protect me.
You flinched at anything unfamiliar.
You panicked when life softened.
You whispered worst-case scenarios into my ear like lullabies.
You weren’t trying to sabotage me.
You just didn’t trust that I could survive the things I was reaching for.
But listen now...
I am not fragile anymore.
I am not the girl who once needed your claws to keep her safe.
You can walk beside me if you must, but you don’t get to hold the map anymore.
Courage isn’t the absence of you — it’s moving with you present and powerless.
You can stay.
But you will not lead.