Everyone wants to weather the storm.
Stand strong. Keep calm. Hold the line.
But strength, real strength, doesn’t come from willpower.
It comes from what holds you underneath.
The tree doesn’t survive because it resists the wind.
It survives because of how far down it’s willing to go.
I learned that the hard way.
“The strongest roots endure the fiercest storms. Nourish yours wisely.”
There was a season in my life where everything hit at once.
Loss. Betrayal. Burnout.
And I kept saying to myself, “Stay strong.”
But I wasn’t strong. I was bracing.
Holding my breath. Clenching my jaw. Plastering affirmations over emotional rot.
Until the wind got worse.
And something gave.
Not everything.
Just the shallow parts I had mistaken for depth.
That season didn’t destroy me.
It revealed me.
It showed me what I’d actually been rooted in.
Validation. Achievement. Control.
Not truth. Not stillness. Not self-trust.
The truth is, we all have roots.
But some of us are trying to grow oak trees out of sand.
These small notes a…
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