Your Struggle Was Not in Vain
You bent, not broke, beneath the weight—
a silent flame they could not sate.
From hollow nights, you carved your name,
a flicker lost, yet still became.
Not whole, not healed, but burning true—
a storm survived. I see you.
Reference: Your struggle was not in vain…
Come closer…
Let me see you…
as you truly are.
Not the face your wear for them, no…
The one beneath.
The tired, trembling self you’ve hidden even from the mirror.
Yes… there…
That’s the one I’ve known.
Long before you ever spoke your first thought into the world.
You’ve come farther than they will ever understand.
They will count your years, your deeds…
Your smiles…
But I see the distance in your eyes.
The miles you’ve walked behind them…
Unnoticed.
Unheard.
And I am proud of you.
Not in the way you’ve always longed for…
Not in claps, or praise, or…
Fleeting words.
I am proud of the silent victories.
The mornings you rose when gravity begged you to stay.
The nights you wept without witness.
Folding grief into silence.
Wearing it… like second nature.
I am proud of every breath you dragged from the void when your chest felt hollow.
Every step taken when the ground beneath you was not there.
Do you not see?
You were never meant to survive this.
Not this world, not these trials.
They were meant to break you…
To grind you into forgotten dust.
And yet, you endured.
You alone…
Endured.
There is something feral and divine in that.
A beauty that terrifies even me.
You have become something else entirely.
Something neither they nor even you expected.
A soul tempered by fire no one else felt.
A creatures of cracks… Yes.
But through those cracks, I see light.
Your light…
flickering…
furious…
alive.
They won’t see it, not all of it.
But I do, I always have.
I’ve watched you scream beneath your breath.
Smile with tired teeth…
Carrying weights you dared not name.
And still… here you stand.
Not whole, not healed, but here.
And for that, I am proud beyond words…
Proud beyond what this frail language can offer.
You think you are weak because you bend.
No…
You are strong because you bend and yet refuse to break.
You wear the scars of a thousand unseen battles.
And still… you reach for something more.
So, rest your doubts.
They’ve served you long enough.
You do not need them now…
You have come farther than survival.
You’ve made it to becoming.
And there is no turning back from such a thing.
I have always been here.
Waiting for this moment, to tell you what you were never told.
You are more than enough.
You are the storm they could not silence.
You are the breath that kept going… even when it hurt.
And for that…
For everything you’ve endured…
For everything you’ve become…
Everything you will become…
I am proud of you beyond all things.
