"Why do I always abandon myself for everyone else?" I asked quietly. My friend didn't rush to answer. She just looked at me and said: "Because once. being easy to love meant being easy to lose. So you learned to shrink. You learned to say I'm fine' when your heart was breaking. You learned to carry everyone's pain while pretending yours didn't exist. You became the strong one. The understanding one. The forgiving one. Not because that's who you were. but because that's what kept you safe. People-pleasing wasn't your personality. It was your armour. And the moment you realise that. you finally stop apologising for choosing yourself."