Two days ago, I wrote about mental health and how every wound deserves space to heal.
Because healing is never a straight path.
Some days we feel okay, and other days we fall apart for reasons we cannot explain.

In recent months, I have been feeling a kind of pain that I do not fully understand.
It is not physical. It runs deeper than that.
Sometimes it comes quietly at night.
Sometimes it appears out of nowhere, in the middle of the day.
It feels like a heaviness inside my chest, an emptiness that words cannot describe.

I tried to ignore it.
I kept myself busy, hoping it would disappear.
But the more I avoided it, the more it stayed.
Then I realized that maybe pain is not something we need to fight,
but something we need to listen to.

I remembered Pain’s words from Naruto:

痛みを感じろ、痛みを考えろ、痛みを受け取れ、痛みを知れ。
Itami o kanjiro, itami o kangaero, itami o uketore, itami o shire.
“Feel the pain. Think about the pain. Accept the pain. Know the pain.”

Sometimes we need to let ourselves feel everything.
The disappointment, the loss, the regret.
Not to drown in it, but to understand who we have become through it.

痛みを知らぬ者に本当の平和は分からん。
Itami o shiranu mono ni hontō no heiwa wa wakaran.
“Those who do not know pain will never understand true peace.”

Maybe that is true.
Without pain, we would never appreciate peace.
Without wounds, we would never understand what healing means.

Pain makes us human.
It reminds us that we once tried, once cared, once loved.
It shapes us, even when it hurts to grow.

I have stopped cursing my pain.
Now, I try to accept it.
I let it be a part of me, a quiet reminder that I am still alive.

ここより、世界に痛みを。
Koko yori, sekai ni itami o.
“From here, let us share the understanding of pain with the world.”

Even now, at this age, I still do not fully understand.
I still get lost in my own feelings.
Sometimes I cannot tell whether a wound is new or just one that never really healed.

Maybe that is what life is about.
Not how fast we recover,
but how honest we are with ourselves.

I realized that it is not good to pretend to be strong.
Sometimes we must be real and admit that I can be fragile too.
And maybe through that honesty,
We will slowly find what peace truly means.

To anyone who might be feeling the same way,
please remember that you are not alone.
It is okay if today still feels heavy.
It is okay if you are still trying to understand.
Take your time and let your heart heal at its own pace.

Every wound you carry is not a weakness.
It is proof that you are still fighting,
still living,
still becoming.