The Price Tag on My Soul

I set the price.

Not the people who left. Not the ones who stayed longer than they should have. Not the versions of me that bent and shrunk and rearranged herself to fit into spaces she was never meant for. Me. I set the price, and for a long time, I didn't know that. So I let other people write the number.

I gave my rest to urgency. My body to expectation. My joy went to whoever needed it most in the room, which was never me. I called it love. I called it strength. I called it being a good person.

But somewhere underneath all that giving was a girl who didn't believe she was allowed to keep anything for herself.

I know better now.

Your body is yours. Your rest is yours. Your boundaries, your joy, your peace on a slow, quiet morning, all yours. All of it. And the relationship you have with yourself sets the price for every other relationship in your life. When you start treating yourself like someone worth protecting, you will stop accepting what you used to settle for.

Forgive yourself for every time you chose people who would not have chosen you back. You were not foolish. You were just still learning what you were worth.

You are the best thing that has ever happened to you.

I hope you know that now. And if you don't yet, keep going. You're almost there.

-Oluwademilade from MANI