Born Today?

The expectation you have been carrying feels so familiar that you forget it came from someone else's idea of what your life should look like. It sits in your chest like something you chose, but when you trace it back, it leads to a conversation you had years ago, or a comment someone made that stuck longer than it should have. Your body knows the difference between what you actually want and what you think you should want, even when your mind has forgotten how to tell them apart. The feeling is unmistakable once you notice it: the tight shoulders when you think about the path you are supposed to take, the way your breathing changes when you imagine the life someone else mapped out for you. The year ahead is the one that asks you to put down what was never yours to carry, and trust what your body has been trying to tell you all along.