Maris cut her hair for a man who barely noticed. When I complimented it, she cried—not because of the haircut, but because she realized how much she’d changed herself for someone who never truly saw her. Over time, we grew close. I watched her choose herself again: deleting his message, applying to a pastry class, learning she was never the problem. Eventually, friendship turned into something gentler and real. She stopped shrinking, stopped editing herself. Love didn’t arrive with conditions—it arrived with presence…
The lesson stayed with me: real love doesn’t ask you to become someone else. If you’ve ever changed yourself for someone who barely looked your way, stop. You’re already enough.
