Truth Over Toxicity: Part 1 – The Awakening

There are parts of my story that still sting when I say them out loud.
Parts I wish weren’t true, parts I fought so hard to rewrite… until I realized the only way out was through.

Toxic love taught me to doubt myself. It taught me to second-guess my worth, to silence my gut, to shrink myself into something “more acceptable” — as if my light needed dimming to be loved.
For a long time, I lived in that shadow. I stayed. I made excuses. I held onto hope like it was oxygen, even when it was suffocating me.

But truth? Truth doesn’t leave you gasping for air.
Truth frees you.

The day I chose truth over toxicity wasn’t some perfect, Hollywood-moment triumph. It was ugly. It was sobbing on the bathroom floor, fighting every instinct to run back to what was familiar. It was standing in front of the mirror, seeing a stranger, and whispering, “You deserve better” — even when I didn’t fully believe it yet.

Healing has been slow. Gritty. Gut-wrenching. Beautiful.

I learned that survival mode isn’t living.
That silence in a toxic relationship is louder than any screaming match.
That I am allowed to want more — real connection, real love, real peace.

Now?
I’m still healing. Still learning. Still loving the broken, bruised, beautiful parts of me back to life.
But I’m here. Breathing. Growing. Smiling without pretending.

Every step I take away from toxicity is a step closer to myself.
And I will never again trade my peace for someone else’s chaos.

If you’re in the thick of it — crawling your way out, clinging to whatever hope you can find — let me tell you:
You’re not crazy. You’re not dramatic. You’re not weak.

You’re waking up.
You’re rising.

And this messy, painful, glorious journey you’re on?
It’s not a detour — it’s the way home.

Tell me your glow up story – I’m cheering for you.

– Nette

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