Why I'm Not Staying

It's hard to look back on my recent "holiday" and say that I didn't go through permanent life defects. It's hard to look back on the last two or three years of my life and say that I haven't gone beyond my limit--I've changed drastically and it's the kind of change that's impossible to reverse and take back. Sometimes, I pray really hard that I haven't gone too far, that it isn't too late to live the life I've lived before.

It has been a slow, painful decay and I wish that some masks can be worn stronger so that all the pruning and breaking and sharpening become a little bit more tolerable. Everyday since December, my threshold for people and scrutiny has shrunk smaller and smaller. I'm afraid that now, that threshold no longer exists. I am meticulous in more ways than one but if there's anything the last few months have taught me, a little bit of leniency, intentional relationships, a strong grasp of purpose and the gift of grace go beyond what the mind can fathom. Not that I received all of those--I didn't, that's why I know. That's why in my head, I can logically and easily pinpoint where the blame should go (and I don't exclude myself when I do).

I'm tired of feeling lonely, of being publicly humiliated, of being laughed at, of being belittled--implicitly or directly. I am tired, so tired, of giving unnecessary sacrifices when there could have always been a simple solution to keep things light, fast and emotionally healthy. I may never be the same again but the promise I made to myself when the New Year kicked in rings so loud and so true: I am off to discover greater things than this.