My Vow to Myself

I vow to never betray myself to be chosen again.

I will no longer shrink my intensity, filter my depth, or soften my truth to fit into anyone else’s comfort zone.
If I am too much, they are not my place.
If my silence unnerves them, they were only ever listening for their own echo.

I vow to stop waiting for closure from those who couldn’t face me directly.
Their silence was their answer.
Their confusion was a reflection of their unreadiness—not my inadequacy.

I vow to honor the man I am becoming—imperfect, yes, but self-aware, evolving, and grounded in something real.
The mess they couldn’t understand is the foundation of something only the rare will ever recognize.

I release the idea that love should be easy, or always soft.
I want real love. Love that sharpens, holds, stretches. Love that can see me—mess and all—and still stay.

I vow to protect my peace.
Because I finally understand: peace is not the absence of chaos—it’s the presence of self.
And I am done handing my peace to people still chasing noise.

I vow to stay loyal to my vision.
To build in silence.
To let my growth speak louder than my pain.
To become the man whose presence cannot be fumbled again.

This is the last time I bleed for someone who never learned how to hold what they asked for.

Let them remember.

I move forward.

For me.