“Which do you want: the pain of staying where you are, or the pain of growth?”

There is a kind of sadness that comes from knowing too much, from seeing the world as it truly is. It is the sadness of understanding that life is not a grand adventure, but a series of small, insignificant moments, that love is not a fairy tale, but a fragile, fleeting emotion, that happiness is not a permanent state, but a rare, fleeting glimpse of something we can never hold onto. And in that understanding, there is a profound loneliness, a sense of being cut off from the world, from other people, from oneself.

Self care isn't just about feel good activities. Sometimes, it's eating healthier, going to therapy or making that dentist appointment you've been putting off for awhile.