There comes a moment—the crack in the dam, the flash of lightning splitting the sky—when you stop waiting.

Stop waiting for them to change.
Stop waiting for their approval.
Stop waiting for the moment when it will finally be your turn.

I’ve been waiting too long.
Waiting for his ego to settle, for their understanding to catch up, for the world to stop asking me to be patient, kind, accommodating.
Waiting for permission to just be myself.

But that day is done.
I’m done holding back my voice so others don’t feel small.
I’m done shrinking myself to fit the frame they built for me.
I’m done waiting for the system to say “okay, you can go now.”

I’m choosing myself.
Not in some quiet, apologetic way—but with fire, with sharp edges, with the fierce, unapologetic knowing that my time is now.
I’m not waiting for the rules to change—I’m breaking them.
I’m not waiting for the door to open—I’m building my own.
I’m not waiting for love to find me—I’m pouring it into myself first.

It’s not that I’ve stopped loving them.
It’s that I’ve stopped abandoning myself for them.

Today, I stand.
Not because they let me, but because I chose to.