𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙋: Before you open your mouth to “help,” know this:
Your “It could be worse” is a slap in the face to my pain.
Your “Time heals all wounds” is a ticking clock of expectations I can’t meet.
Your “Stay busy” is a bandaid on a bullet wound.
Your “I know exactly how you feel” is a lie we both know.
Your “At least…” is the start of a sentence that should die on your lips.
Your “You should…” is a burden I’m too broken to carry.
Instead:
Validate my hell.
Be my witness, not my clock.
Let me breathe in my own time.
Listen without the need to relate.
Acknowledge the senselessness.
Ask what I need, then actually do it.
And when words fail you, remember:
Your silence can be a sanctuary.
Your presence, a lifeline.
Your love, the only bandage that might actually hold.
This isn’t comfortable.
It isn’t easy.
But neither is my pain.
Meet me here, in this messy, awful reality. It’s the only place true healing begins.
Amanda Weston