The Deciding

We choose what remains.

Choosing is quiet.

It begins with noticing.

Some things we carry leave us warmer than before. A kindness we still remember. A hand that reached for ours. A strength found slowly. Love that was real. These do not ask to be held. They simply remain.

Then there are the other things.

The words that stayed longer than they should have. The fear that found our name. The habits we picked up just to make it through. We have carried them so long they can feel familiar, even when they no longer fit.

Little by little, we begin to set them down.

Not all at once. Not in a single afternoon. Some things are ready to leave us. Others need more time. Both ask for the same patience.

Nothing asks us to hurry.

This work moves at the pace of a life. We return to it again and again, each time seeing a little more.

Perhaps that is what devotion looks like.

Not one great decision, but many quiet ones.

Keeping what brings us closer to ourselves.

Letting go of what we no longer choose.

Little by little, the life we are living becomes more our own.

In choosing,
S. Marie
C U M I C H E