“Fear Doesn’t Suit You — Your Soul Was Never Made to Shrink.”
I tried to fit into their expectations.
And slowly, without noticing —
they began to rule me.
My choices. My silence. My life.
I shrank what I truly felt.
Buried what I deeply knew.
They said the right things —
but never stood by them.
Their promises dissolved,
and the trust I once clung to like hope… quietly
disappeared.
They ruled not with love, but with demands.
Not with care, but with control.
Their discrimination.
Their silence.
Their subtle insults and loud expectations.
They ignored my pain.
Dismissed my worth.
And slowly —
I started treating myself the way they did.
Their neglect became the voice in my own head.
I forgot I deserved better.
They said,
“We gave you food and shelter.”
But that wasn’t love —it was control dressed as care.
My steps were watched.
My freedom measured.
Even going outside felt like a permission slip.
Breathing felt like a borrowed privilege.
They didn’t offer safety —
they offered survival
with conditions.
What they called “normal,”
was mental torture in disguise.
They didn’t give me a meaningful life —
they used me as their social face.
And I stayed.
Not because I believed them.
But because I was afraid.
Afraid of being alone.
Afraid I wouldn’t survive outside their world.
Afraid that love had to be earned.
Afraid to break free.
But really —
it was fear.
I lived in it until the day
my soul finally asked me:
“How long will you suffer for people who don’t see you?”
How long will you stay in rooms that silence you?
How long will you shrink so they feel safe?
How long will you trade your peace for their presence?
Fear taught me to disappear inside people.
To fold myself smaller so I wouldn’t take up too much space.
To be perfect so I wouldn’t be punished.
But one day, I looked around and saw:
I wasn’t protecting myself anymore.
I was erasing myself.
That’s when I stopped.
Not loudly. Not all at once.
But breath by breath.
I let fear see that
I was never meant to live inside its cage.
Gentle Reminder:
Fear doesn’t suit you —
your soul was never made to shrink.
You are not here to fold.
You are here to unfold.
Let this be the day
you stop shrinking to be accepted —
and start expanding into truth.
— Jayasudha
unspoken, still