Today I choose to tend to the parts of me I cast out.

Today I choose to tend to the parts of me I cast out. They matter to me, and I can care for them now.

They might not trust me yet—how could they… and I want to do what it takes to be worthy of them, and what they sacrificed.

They had to take over when I couldn't defend myself; they took the hit, the shame, the blame. They had to protect me when I was a very young person—and I’m adult now: it's time to pay my debts.

They held my trauma down below because I couldn't or wouldn't let them talk. They stayed in a dark cave where love cannot enter while I spent years running away from them into the unreachable horizon.

All of that changes now.

Today I choose to tend to the parts of me I cast out. No matter how inconvenient it is for others or for my worldly goals. No matter how long it takes to gain their trust and feel their pain. No matter how much it hurts, what it breaks, what it changes for better or for worse. And even if it all stays the same.

Today I choose to tend to the parts of me I cast out. Letting love embrace fear and fear melt into love. Love is all that matters.