They Ground You

 

The Right People Don't Drain You; They Ground You

The right people don't drain you; they ground you.

They show up like shade on a warm afternoon, like rain falling softly on thirsty earth.

With them, you do not have to perform the exhausting ritual of proving your worth.

You do not have to polish your wounds, translate your silences, or carry your heart as evidence for your existence.

You are allowed to simply be.

And in that permission, something sacred happens.

The breath deepens.

The shoulders soften.

The mind loosens its grip on all the things it was never meant to carry alone.

The right people are not those who demand your energy to keep themselves warm.

They are those who sit beside your fire without asking you to burn brighter.

They do not pull you away from yourself.

They return you to yourself.

Again and again.

Like roots finding water.

Like a river remembering the shape of its own bed.

Like a bird, after a long season of wandering, recognizing the way home.

Their presence is not loud, but life-giving.

Not consuming, but nourishing.

Not a constant taking, but a gentle exchange where both souls leave with more than they brought.

And perhaps that is how you know.

Not by the intensity.

Not by the drama.

Not by how much of yourself you are willing to sacrifice.

But by the peace.

By the quiet settling of your spirit.

By the way your heart stops bracing for impact.

By the way you leave their presence not smaller,

not emptied,

not exhausted,

but rooted.

Steady.

Whole.

More yourself than before.

And in a world that often mistakes chaos for connection,

that kind of grounding is its own form of love.

~ 'The Right People Don't Drain You; They Ground You' by Spirit of a Hippie

Mary Anne Byrne

~ Art by Michelle Johnson

Source: Spirit of a Hippie on Facebook