You are not hard to love.
But sometimes it feels like you are.
Because the world taught you to be strong before it taught you how to be safe.
Because you learned how to stand on your own before anyone ever stayed long enough to hold you.
Because you learned how to keep going even when your heart was quietly asking for rest.
You became the strong one because you had to.
You became the understanding one.
The forgiving one.
The one who doesn’t fall apart in front of people.
The one who listens more than they speak.
The one who keeps showing up even when they are exhausted inside.
And now you are tired in a way sleep doesn’t fix.
Tired of holding everything together.
Tired of being the one who never gets to fall apart.
Tired of being the safe place for others while quietly needing one yourself.
And because of this version of you,
the guarded one,
the careful one,
the one with a past and deep emotions,
you start to wonder quietly:
Who would really choose me like this?
You think no one would accept the wounded parts of you.
You think your past will make them judge you.
You think your emotions will feel overwhelming to someone one day.
You think they will get tired of your fears, your heaviness, your sensitive days.
You think they will give up when loving you starts asking for patience instead of ease.
So you try to become easier to love.
You hide how deeply you feel.
You soften your needs.
You apologize for your tears.
You pretend you are okay faster than you really are.
You make your heart smaller so it feels safer to offer.
And slowly, without realizing it,
you begin to believe that maybe love hasn’t stayed
because of who you became.
But listen to this gently and clearly:
You did not become hard to love.
You became someone who learned how to survive.
You became someone who learned how to protect their heart.
You became someone who learned how to keep going even when it hurt.
You became someone who feels deeply in a world that often avoids feeling at all.
That does not make you unlovable.
That makes you human.
It hurts to be emotional in a world that praises control.
It hurts to be soft in a world that rewards toughness.
It hurts to want depth in a world that rushes past feelings.
It hurts to keep hoping when life has taught you to be careful.
And still… you wake up.
Still… you show up.
Still… you care.
Still… your heart opens again, even when it is afraid.
That alone is a kind of courage most people never see.
You are not asking for too much.
For honesty.
For effort.
For emotional safety.
For someone who will not disappear when your feelings show up.
For someone who will stay when things are not easy.
One day, someone will not be scared of your depth.
One day, someone will not rush your healing.
One day, someone will not judge your past.
One day, your emotions will feel like connection, not a problem.
One day, you will be chosen without having to make yourself smaller.
And on that day, you will finally understand
why you had to be strong for so long.
Until then, please don’t turn your tiredness into proof that you are unlovable.
Please don’t make your past the reason you distrust your future.
Please don’t abandon yourself just because others once did.
If all you can do right now is rest silently, that is enough.
If all you can do is breathe and stay, that is strength too.
If all you can do is keep your heart slightly open, even while it trembles,
that is courage.
You are not broken.
You are not difficult.
You are not too much.
You are simply someone who learned how to be strong
before they were ever allowed to be held.
And still… you are here.
And that means love that feels like rest,
not survival,
is still on its way to you.