"Why can’t I just say no?” If you’ve asked yourself this, you’re not alone. Saying no can feel heavy, sticky—even impossible. It doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means at some point, your nervous system learned that saying yes was safer.

You deserved an apology. Maybe more than one. Maybe from someone who pretended nothing happened. Or someone who brushed it off. Or someone who didn’t even notice the hurt they left behind. But the apology never came. And that still hurts.

Awareness is powerful—but it’s not magic. You’ve done the work. You’ve read the books. You’ve gained insight. You know what your patterns are. So why do they still show up? Why are you still people-pleasing? Still avoiding rest? Still getting pulled into the same spirals? If you’ve ever felt the sting of “I should know better by now”—you’re not alone. And you’re not failing. You’re being human.