“Avoidance gives the illusion of freedom, until your life becomes a prison.” 

These words struck something deep in me. I have read them few times. 

I know this truth, not just in theory, but in my bones. I felt unsafe and anxious for many years in my life.

So avoidance became my refuge. And it was so subtle many times that I didn’t even realize it.

Avoidance wears many disguises.

Busyness. Overthinking. Staying in relationships that feel almost right. Withdrawing in difficult conversations. 

Avoiding intimacy.

Becoming silent when you should reach out .

Numbing. Scrolling. Pleasing. Performing. Controlling.

Convincing yourself that “it’s not that bad” just to avoid what it might cost to face the truth.

Avoidance has so many faces.

We tell ourselves we’re free.

Free from conflict.

Free from the discomfort of hard conversations.

Free from risk.

Free from the unknown.

But slowly, quietly, avoidance builds walls around us.

Until the life we’re living isn’t ours anymore.

Until we’ve shaped our days around what we fear, not what we desire.

Until freedom becomes a memory, and anxiety becomes the norm.

Avoiding pain doesn’t protect us. It preserves our wounds.

Avoiding truth doesn’t make it disappear. It just steals the time we could have used to heal.

Real freedom lives on the other side of honesty.

Of choosing to feel what you’ve buried.

Of speaking what you’ve silenced.

Of walking toward what scares you, because deep down you know you’re meant for something more.

I’ve learned that facing what I feared was never the end of me.

It was the beginning of me.

And the courage, as all the brave ones know, is not the avoidance of the fear, but going forward instead of it. 

Freedom is on the other side of the fear.

 🔥What are you avoiding right now that you know is quietly stealing your peace?

🔥What truth would set you free, if only you had the courage to speak it?

May you choose the kind of freedom that doesn’t come from running away, but from coming home to yourself.

With love and respect for your courage,

Aniela🤍

www.MindfulTherapist.us

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