I looked at my own face in the mirror and thought, you need a gentler week

Dear Delyara, I was washing my face, looked up, and instead of thinking you look tired, or older, or like you should have handled the week better, I thought something unexpectedly kind: you need a gentler week. It stopped me. Because I realised how rare that language still is in me. So often I interpret my own depletion as weakness, poor planning, not coping well enough. Last night, for one brief honest moment, I read my face correctly and responded with softness instead of judgment. Nothing changed immediately. Still, the sentence mattered.