I regret how many years I spent calling my own pain “not that bad”

Dear Delyara, That phrase cost me. Not that bad. Not worth a fuss. Could be worse. Just stress. Just a phase. Just how relationships are. Just work. Just motherhood. Just life. I used that kind of language for years, and every time I did, I gave the room permission to stay exactly as it was while asking my body to absorb more than it should have. The damage wasn’t only external. It was internal too. I trained myself to reduce my own suffering so consistently that now I struggle to trust my pain even when it is speaking clearly. That is the regret. Not only what I endured. How long I helped it stay invisible by naming it too softly.