Now than I was before September 2, 2019.
It’s as if my eyes can see what I used to take for granted. Aware of all people and things, I peer inside.
I see myself from the outside in. The insider had been reaching out all along. The outsider grabs the hand. Into each other’s eyes, they smile. The two become one. The outsider is no longer blind. She stops dragging the other. The insider no longer begs to be seen and heard. Her cry ends.
Then they teach me what I am ready to learn:
It is my duty to take care of myself. There is no one better. I can only be the best me. That is all I can and should do. Instead of trying to make someone else happy, I must put myself first. Because my life is mine to love. Not doing so is the greatest abdication of my life’s work.