As a child, I was always told to be a tough girl.
Whenever I cried, I’d hear things like:
“Don’t cry, you seem weak.”
“I didn’t know you were this fragile.”
“If you cry, they’ll know your weakness.”
Or sometimes, I was just left alone - expected to cry it out and come back once I was “strong again.”
This isn’t a complaint.
As a little girl, I took those words seriously. I tried to be strong. I tried to “not cry.” It was difficult -very difficult. But I kept trying… until I couldn’t.
As an adult, I was still chasing that strength. Still trying to show the world I was powerful. And then, something gently pulled me in a different direction. I signed up for a course in NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) - thinking it might give me perspective.
I didn’t know it would change my life.
It felt like there were tangled knots in my mind, and with every session, something softened. Through shadow work, I met myself again - the little Neha.
Her true self.
Untouched by the world’s beliefs.
And oh - she was beautiful. Soft. Full of love.
And surprisingly, I found forgiveness for those who once told me to toughen up. I saw that it wasn’t their voice either - they too had grown up with those same echoes. They too were just longing for love, but had only learned one way to live. I empathized with them.
Ever since I embraced that soft version of myself - allowing her to feel deeply, to cry courageously, to love boldly - life has shifted.
It feels magical.
Gratitude became my quiet power. I’m grateful for that journey. Grateful for softness. Grateful for this space to share it with fellow beautiful humans.
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