I Know How This Story Ends

Something has clicked in me. Something I can feel in my body now — not just name with words.

That old dynamic.
The one where I get pulled into the Parent role.
The one where someone else unconsciously slips into Child — seeking care, safety, control, rescue.
I know that dynamic so well, it used to feel like love.
But it’s not love.
It’s a trap.

And now I see it for what it is.

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I used to tolerate it. Sometimes even welcome it. It made me feel needed. Important.
But I didn’t see the cost.

Because the longer I stayed in that role, the more I had to abandon myself.
My joy.
My spontaneity.
My own needs.

It was never equal.
It was never sustainable.
And it always ended the same way:
With me drained, disconnected, and doubting myself.

But not anymore.

---

Now, I feel it instantly.
I feel the shift in my nervous system — the moment I’m being asked to hold more than I should.
And I correct it. Naturally. Calmly. Without needing to prove anything.

I stay in Adult.
And if the other person can’t meet me there — I step back.
Not out of punishment, but out of self-respect.

---

That’s growth.
Not something theoretical.
Not a nice idea I’m hoping to implement one day.
It’s happening moment by moment.

And that’s something no critical voice inside me can take away.
Because it’s not based in ego — it’s based in evidence.
Lived proof. Emotional clarity. Truth in action.

---

Will there still be times when I momentarily slip into old patterns?
Maybe. That’s human.

But I know the difference now between a momentary misstep and a repeated cycle.
And I trust myself not to sign up for the latter ever again.

Because I know how that story ends.
And I’m writing something else now.