What Part of Me Have I Abandoned in Order to Survive?

There comes a moment in every soul’s journey when we realize that survival has a cost. It’s not always paid in money, time, or energy… sometimes, it’s paid in pieces of ourselves. The parts we’ve silenced, suppressed, or tucked away just to keep going.

For many of us, those abandoned parts are the most tender, vital expressions of who we truly are, the parts that once felt safe to feel, dream, or create before the world told us we had to be strong, realistic, or useful.

Somewhere along the way, we traded innocence for independence. Sensitivity for strength. Wonder for control. We learned to hide our softness to be taken seriously. We learned to silence our intuition to be accepted. We learned to wear masks that helped us fit in even when those masks began to suffocate us.

But what happens when the life we built on survival no longer fits?
When the armor that once protected us becomes too heavy to carry?
When the quiet ache inside whispers: You’ve been gone too long… come home to yourself.

Reclaiming those lost parts of us is not about blaming the past. It’s about remembering. Remembering the version of ourselves that used to laugh without fear of being too loud, that used to trust without overthinking, that used to express without seeking permission.

It’s about sitting with the parts that were silenced, the artist, the dreamer, the lover, the child and saying:
“I see you. I’m sorry I left you behind. You deserved more tenderness than I knew how to give.”

Healing is not about becoming someone new. It’s about becoming whole again.
It’s about integrating what we abandoned in the name of survival, and realizing that thriving requires something different, presence, softness, authenticity, and love.

So ask yourself today:
What part of me have I abandoned in order to survive?
And what would it look like to invite that part back home?

Because the truth is, the part you left behind may just be the missing piece to your freedom.

With love,
Marine Sélénée