I still have some trust issues, and I feel a drive to be an exemplary rule-follower more than I perhaps should be at work, and I'm still learning to accept that I might actually be undiagnosed forcibly high-functioning ADHD...but I'm not who I was around the toxic people I used to be in love with.

Like...I actually have social energy. I'm not fucking burnt out by my job. I (mostly) look forward to going to work each workday, and even when I'm not looking forward to it, it's usually because of the specific schedule and not the job or the work itself. I'm not tired of people in general now.

A lot of it emotionally has been slowly coming to terms with heartbreaks and heartaches. Learning not to blame myself as much as I used to for other people's shitty behaviour. Levering myself past toxicity and coping better with rejection. Realizing that I can be more than just a ghost of the past.

I think a large part of it, too, is just...being *happier*. I still have plenty of moments where I feel awful because of being reminded of people who used and manipulated me for years in and after college, but...I'm finally able to feel okay about myself. Or at least more okay than I did back then.