There’s someone in your life who has to go—and you already know who it is.
The one who keeps bringing up your past.
The one who’s more comfortable with your dysfunction than your healing.
The one who seems a little too invested in keeping you small.

If you’re going to rise, they cannot stay. Period.

Anyone who insists on relating to the old you—who constantly brings up your mistakes, your failures, your survival-mode patterns—isn’t just stuck...
They’re trying to keep you stuck.

And whether they left you, ghosted you, pulled away, or are still hovering in your inbox like an emotional landmine, it’s time to stop explaining your growth to people who don’t want to grow with you.

Let me say it clearly:
If someone walked away from you, it might not be rejection.
It might be confirmation.

That relationship wasn’t meant to come with you into this next chapter.
In fact—they would have dragged you down.

I’ve lived this.

There was a season in my life marked by deep, traumatic loss.
People I trusted and loved were suddenly gone.
It wasn’t just hard. It was identity-shattering.

And for a long time, I stayed stuck in the ache—cycling through What did I do wrong? and Maybe I can fix it.
But now, looking back from the other side of healing, I see it so clearly:

They saw my growth coming… and they didn’t want to come with me.

They weren’t willing to change.
They were comfortable with the version of me who played small, stayed stuck, and overfunctioned to keep the peace.
But the moment I started evolving, it became too uncomfortable—for them.

And that hurt.
Still does, some days.

But you know what hurts worse?
Shrinking yourself just to keep the familiar people comfortable.
Giving up your healing just to stay “relatable.”

If you're in that space right now—
The ache of someone leaving,
The confusion of losing someone who meant so much,
Let me offer this:

Grieve it. Fully.
Feel the sads. Feel the mads.
Honor what was good.
But do not chase them back into your old self.

Some people aren’t meant to go where you’re going next.
Not because they were evil.
Not because you didn’t love each other.
But because the growth you're stepping into would’ve cost them more than they were willing to pay.

And you?
You were willing.
You are willing.

So keep going.

That chapter may be over.
But your story is just getting started.

Let them become a sacred memory, not a current character.
Let them be part of your healing—not part of your holding pattern.

Because the truth is:

You’re evolving.
You’re expanding.
You’re ready for more.

And you don’t owe anyone an apology for becoming the version of you that finally fits.

Casey Cole Corbin
caseycolecorbin.com
Helping you stop self-sabotage and grow into the life that fits.

Related video: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1D2vRReJMD/