<p><br></p><p><br></p><p>Why We Keep the People Who Hurt Us</p><p><br></p><p>(Even When We Know Better)</p><p><br></p><p>There’s a weird kind of magic in pain.</p><p><br></p><p>Not the romantic kind. The kind that makes you check your phone for someone who’s already forgotten you.</p><p>The kind that whispers, “Maybe if I was a little more chill... a little less emotional... they would’ve stayed.”</p><p><br></p><p>But here’s the thing no one really says out loud:</p><p><br></p><p>We don’t always want love.</p><p>Sometimes, we want familiarity.</p><p>And pain—especially the kind that looks like love—can feel familiar as hell.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>---</p><p><br></p><p>Truth Bomb #1: They Hurt You, But They Felt Like Home</p><p><br></p><p>Let’s be real.</p><p><br></p><p>You didn’t fall for their kindness. You fell for the comfort in the chaos.</p><p>The same kind of chaos you grew up in.</p><p>That emotional hide-and-seek. That feeling of needing to earn love.</p><p>They triggered your survival instincts—not your soul.</p><p><br></p><p>They mirrored a wound so old you forgot where it started.</p><p><br></p><p>And when it hurt, it didn’t feel wrong.</p><p>It felt like something you were built to survive.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>---</p><p><br></p><p>Truth Bomb #2: You Fell in Love With the Version You Built in Your Head</p><p><br></p><p>We keep people who hurt us because we didn’t fall in love with them.</p><p><br></p><p>We fell in love with:</p><p><br></p><p>The version of them we imagined</p><p><br></p><p>The potential we swore we saw</p><p><br></p><p>The dream they sold us in between apologies</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>That version was intoxicating.</p><p>But here’s the brutal truth: You can’t date someone’s potential.</p><p><br></p><p>You either love who they are, or you’re holding a ghost.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>---</p><p><br></p><p>Truth Bomb #3: You Thought the Pain Meant It Was Real</p><p><br></p><p>Let’s not pretend.</p><p><br></p><p>Some part of you thought the pain proved it mattered.</p><p><br></p><p>Like, “If it hurts this much, it must be love, right?”</p><p>Like movies taught us love means suffering.</p><p>Like songs told us heartbreak is just part of the passion.</p><p><br></p><p>But that’s not love.</p><p>That’s emotional gambling.</p><p>You’re spinning the wheel, praying the next version of them finally chooses you.</p><p><br></p><p>But they won’t. Not fully. Because they already know they don’t have to.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>---</p><p><br></p><p>Truth Bomb #4: You Didn’t Want Closure. You Wanted Control</p><p><br></p><p>We say we want closure. But let’s be honest:</p><p>We want a redo.</p><p>A comeback.</p><p>We want them to wake up, realize our worth, and beg us to stay.</p><p><br></p><p>But love doesn’t work like a Netflix rewrite.</p><p>No perfect scene. No last-minute monologue.</p><p>Just silence, space, and what we do next.</p><p><br></p><p>So we keep them—even if it’s just in our minds.</p><p>Because if we keep them, we don’t have to face the void.</p><p>And that void? It's scary.</p><p><br></p><p>But here’s the plot twist:</p><p>Peace feels like boredom when you’re addicted to survival mode.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>---</p><p><br></p><p>Truth Bomb #5: You Didn’t Stay Because You’re Weak. You Stayed Because You’re Wired</p><p><br></p><p>You’re not dumb.</p><p>You’re not pathetic.</p><p>You’re not desperate.</p><p><br></p><p>You’re human.</p><p><br></p><p>Your nervous system got attached to the emotional rollercoaster.</p><p>Your brain linked inconsistency with intensity.</p><p>And now stillness feels suspicious.</p><p><br></p><p>But you’re not stuck.</p><p>You’re waking up.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>---</p><p><br></p><p>Okay, So Now What?</p><p><br></p><p>You stop justifying their actions like it’s your fault.</p><p>You stop fantasizing about “what if” like it’s still on the table.</p><p>You stop romanticizing dysfunction and start craving peace.</p><p><br></p><p>You look in the mirror and say:</p><p>“They hurt me. I let them. But it ends here.”</p><p><br></p><p>You don’t need closure. You need clarity.</p><p>You don’t need them back. You need you back.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>---</p><p><br></p><p>The Plot Twist They Never Saw Coming?</p><p><br></p><p>You unlearn the idea that pain = love.</p><p>You walk away—not with a scream, but with silence.</p><p>You glow up emotionally.</p><p>You stop chasing ghosts and start building boundaries.</p><p><br></p><p>And one day, when they try to come back (because they will)—</p><p>you won’t be angry.</p><p>You’ll be over it.</p><p><br></p><p>Not because they changed.</p><p>But because you did.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>---</p><p><br></p><p>Because keeping someone who hurt you isn’t loyalty.</p><p>It’s self-abandonment.</p><p>And your comeback story deserves better!</p>
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