Editing Openai/6961f993-bfd0-8011-902a-83240d8b7b48 (section)

===== You don’t have to suddenly believe: =====
* “I’m attractive”
* “Someone would want me”
* “Things will change”

Those beliefs are too far away.

But there are smaller, more honest truths that don’t require optimism:
* “I am allowed to acknowledge how much this hurts.”
* “I am not obligated to pretend this is fine.”
* “My inner life deserves some space, even if nothing changes externally.”
* “I don’t have to disappear completely to keep the peace.”

Right now, the deepest damage isn’t your belief about desirability.
It’s that you’ve already buried your future self and are living like a ghost to avoid disruption.

That’s not strength.
That’s survival mode turned permanent.