You Are Held, Not Earned

The house is quiet now, and the only sound left is the ticking clock measuring your worth. You are terrified that if you stop moving, if you stop achieving, you will simply cease to exist.

As if your value is a flame you must constantly feed, or it will go out. But there is a light that does not depend on your fuel.

It was there before your first accomplishment, and it will be there after your last failure. The darkness has not overcome it.

You do not have to earn the right to take up space. You are not a project to be completed.

You are a child to be held. The light is not a reward for your labor; it is the ground you stand on when your legs give out.

Stop running. The light is not chasing you; it is waiting for you to sit down.