Threshold

Entry 13 – Hello Young Man

Hello young man,

I see the weight you carry behind your jokes.

You’ve learned to square your shoulders

before you learned to rest them.

You’ve been told to “man up”

before anyone even asked if you were okay.

Maybe that’s why you smile through pain

because resilience was the first language you learnt.

But listen,

you don’t have to carry the whole weight just to prove you’re strong.

Even great men took breaks.

Strength isn’t always how long you can hold your breath –

but how gently you can exhale and start again.

You wake up every day

to a world that demands proof –

of worth,

of ambition,

proof that you are “perfect.”

The world will tell you to chase,

to conquer, to build, to never break.

But sometimes,

the real win is simply learning how to be,

to chose yourself sometimes,

to slow down, to heal,

to reconcile with the boy you once were.

You are not your mistakes,

not the voice that didn't believe in you,

that said you’d never be enough.

You are every quiet morning you got up again,

every bruise that didn’t make you bitter,

every prayer you never said out loud

but whispered in between battles.

It’s okay if you’re still figuring things out,

if your dreams still feels far,

if you don’t have all the answers right now.

The sun doesn’t rise at once either –

it climbs, slowly, with patience and fire.

Be kind.

To yourself first. It's wisdom.

And to the people who cross your path,

because the world’s already full of hardness.

Be the softness that deters it.

Hello young man,

You’re handsome, worthy, appreciated, and understood.

Make sure to be healthy and to be part of the big picture you’re painting with hard work, the family you’ve already loved without seeing, and the one you already have, that you care for – Selfless Anchors♡

May you grow into peace, not just power.

May your hands build more than walls, may they build bridges.

May your heart never lose its wonder, and your dreams never shrink to fit fear’s demands.

Because one day, the boy you were and the man you’re becoming will meet in the mirror and smile.

You’ll look back and realize – you were always becoming.

Not exactly a perfect man, but a whole one.

You’ll realize the journey didn’t break you – It built you.