When you Finally Choose You: Breaking the Cycle of Toxic Tolerance

We don't land in toxic relationships overnight.

It starts subtly - with a joke that stings, a message left unread, a decision made without you. You feel it in your gut, that whisper of discomfort. But instead of speaking up, you swallow your truth. You second guess your own instincts. Why? Because we are taught that speaking up makes us difficult. That having standards makes us demanding. That expressing hurt means we are just too sensitive. 

And so, we stay.

We excuse, we overlook, we minimize. 

We hold on to potential and dismiss the reality.

We confuse red flags for rough patches and ignore the emotional cost.

Why do we do this to ourselves?

Because loneliness scares us. 

Loneliness feels heavier than being half-loved.

Somewhere along the way, we internalized the lie that our worth is measured by who stays - no matter how poorly they treat us. 

But the truth cannot be ignored for long.

Every time we let disrespect slide, we chip away at our self - esteem. 

Every time we silence our discomfort, we send a message to ourselves - "You don't matter"

And that's where the damage begns - not just in the relationship, but in how we start to see ourselves. 

But something shifts the day you decide you have had enough. The day you stop blaming yourself for someone else's behaviour. 

The day you look in the mirror and say "No more" you become  the strongest and wisest person