Made for the moment you choose yourself.

I grew up without the steady presence of my parents. I have a younger brother and a younger sister, and because of circumstances beyond our control, our parents only came back into our lives after we had already become adults. Before that, I became the person my siblings could lean on. I carried pieces of both a mother and a father before I fully understood what it meant to be a child.
I did not grow up with a clear definition of happiness. I only knew that my brother and sister were my whole world. Their needs became my direction. Their safety became my comfort. Their happiness became the closest thing I had to my own.
Over time, that way of living shaped me. I became the kind of person who gave before being asked. If someone looked like they needed help, even a stranger, I wanted to help. There is beauty in kindness, but there is also a quiet danger in forgetting your own boundaries. Some people saw my softness and used it. Some people took my care and turned it into a way to hurt me.
For years, I confused self-sacrifice with love. I ignored my own needs. I dismissed my own feelings. I kept showing up for others while slowly disappearing from myself.
Something changed when I began to ask different questions: What do I need? What would make me feel safe today? What would make me smile, even a little? What kind of energy do I want to carry into the world?
When I started meeting my own needs, caring for my emotions, protecting my peace, and choosing the things that made me feel alive, I became better. Not selfish. Better. Softer in the right places. Stronger in the right places. More honest with myself. More whole.