Live your life
Not as a soldier of rage
But as a keeper of stories
Live your life as if the boy across the border
Could’ve been your son
If only history had shifted an inch
If only maps weren't drawn in blood
Live your life as if loss will visit everyone
Because it will
And when it does
Let it not find you proud of the war
But of the peace you dared to imagine
Live your life not to win
But to outgrow the need to conquer
Live your life knowing
That truth wears many faces
And none of them are clean
Live it as if peace isn’t passive
But deliberate
Built in hard conversations
And small stubborn acts of care
Live your life with the wisdom
That not every fight is noble
And not every silence is cowardice
Sometimes it takes more courage
To forgive
Than to avenge
And when the cracks begin to show and the ship starts to sink, rest assured it won’t be the ones at the helm who take the blame. It’ll be you, the one they quietly positioned closest to the edge.
It was never truly about what was promised. Their intentions were misaligned from the very beginning. What they offered was merely the bare minimum, a token gesture in a much larger, self-serving agenda.
This has taught me something valuable: not all leaders lead. Some just manage their insecurities.
So for now, I observe. Because in all of this, I’m learning exactly the kind of leader I never want to become.
The more I show up, the more I feel the walls.. not around the work, but around the people. It’s not that I’m overstepping. It’s that some only support growth when it doesn’t challenge their comfort.
Again, I’ve found myself pouring more into this than I probably should. Taking on tasks well beyond my scope, simply because I’ve done it before, not because I’m being paid to. In fact, I’m not even compensated close to what that kind of work typically commands.
But deep down you also know this: if nothing changes then neither will they.
And that quiet knowing the one you keep pushing aside it’s the most honest part of you.
The Quiet Knowing
That’s the thing about being undervalued: At first, you question yourself. You lower your voice, round your edges, shrink your ideas to fit the comfort of the room.
