You stick around.
You hold space.
You give benefit of the doubt.
You stay — even when it gets hard.
Because loyalty matters.
Because showing up is love.
Because you said you would.
But then it starts to take.
Your peace.
Your voice.
Your self.
And suddenly, loyalty doesn’t feel noble.
It feels like a slow erasure.
There’s a thin line.
Loyalty is rooted in love.
Self-abandonment is rooted in fear.
Loyalty says:
I’m here because it’s aligned.
Self-abandonment says:
I’m here because leaving would mean facing myself.
Loyalty is mutual.
Self-abandonment is lopsided.
Loyalty honors both people.
Self-abandonment sacrifices one — usually you.
You say:
- “They need me.”
- “I made a promise.”
- “This is what love looks like.”
And maybe it is.
But ask:
- Do I feel proud of this — or trapped in it?
- Am I showing up — or disappearing to keep the peace?
- Am I still in this… or just afraid to walk away?
There’s a difference between commitment
and staying in something that’s slowly undoing you.
This is the Cushy way.
Devotion with discernment.
Care without collapse.
Loyalty that includes loyalty to yourself.
You don’t have to leave everything.
Just the parts where you can no longer find you.
