You’re Allowed to Feel Both

There’s something confusing about this journey that no one really prepares you for.

You can love someone deeply…

and feel completely worn down by it at the same time.

You can hope for change…

and feel tired of hoping.

You can want to stay close…

and still need space for yourself.

None of that makes you cold.

None of that makes you selfish.

None of that makes you weak.

It makes you normal.

Supporting someone through addiction stretches the heart in ways that don’t make sense on the outside.

You celebrate small steps.

You brace for setbacks.

You answer calls with cautious optimism.

You hang up and sit quietly with the weight of it.

Some days love feels steady.

Some days it feels fragile.

Both are real.

If you’ve been hard on yourself for feeling mixed emotions — for not being endlessly patient, endlessly strong, endlessly certain — please hear this:

You are allowed to feel both.

You are allowed to care deeply and still feel tired.

You are allowed to hold hope and still admit this is hard.

You are allowed to need support too.

Loving someone through addiction is not a straight line.

It’s layered.

It’s complicated.

It’s deeply personal.

And the fact that you’re still here — still caring — says more about your strength than any moment of exhaustion ever could.