Sometimes I wonder what it feels like to live instead of just survive. To wake up and not already feel behind. To breathe without the pressure of yesterday. To exist without the constant fear of what might go wrong. I don’t want a perfect life. I just want a break from survival mode — a day where life feels calm, where I don’t have to fight so hard to feel peace. Because surviving isn’t the same as living. Surviving is waking up exhausted before the day even begins, carrying the weight of invisible battles no one else can see. It’s smiling when you want to cry, pretending you’re okay because you don’t have the energy to explain why you’re not. It’s doing everything you’re “supposed” to do, yet still feeling like you’re missing something vital — like your soul is on autopilot, just going through the motions. Living, though — that’s different. Living is when the air feels lighter, when laughter doesn’t feel forced, when the future doesn’t look like a mountain you’re too tired to climb. Living is when you can pause long enough to feel sunlight on your skin without guilt whispering that you should be doing more. It’s when peace isn’t something you chase, but something that quietly finds you. I think that’s what I crave — not perfection, not constant happiness, just moments where I can exhale without fear catching in my throat. A day where my mind isn’t racing, my heart isn’t heavy, and my body doesn’t feel like it’s bracing for impact. I want to stop surviving long enough to remember what it feels like to *be*. Maybe one day, life won’t feel like a series of tests I’m always on the edge of failing. Maybe one day, waking up won’t mean gearing up for battle. Maybe peace will come softly — not as a reward, but as a right. And when it does, I’ll know that I’ve finally learned how to live, not just endure.