Someone once asked me, “Why are you always there for people?” And I smiled softly, because they did not know what that question really unlocked inside me. You see, being “there” for others is not something I do out of habit or obligation, it is something that was carved into my soul through absence, through the kind of loneliness that teaches you the language of silent cries and unanswered prayers.
I know what it feels like to need someone and have no one. To sit in the dark with your thoughts louder than the world, trying to convince yourself that tomorrow will feel lighter. I know how it feels to scroll through your contacts hoping someone will just get it, and realising most people only show up for the highlight reel, not the behind-the-scenes. That is why I choose to be the person who stays. The one who replies. The one who checks in. Because I remember how it felt when nobody did.
It changes you, that kind of emptiness. It makes you soft in places you never thought could bend. It teaches you to listen to what is not said. It makes you notice the pain hiding behind “I am fine.” That is why when I show up for people, I do it with my whole heart. Because I am not just offering my time. I am offering the comfort I once prayed for.
People who have been through the fire love differently. We do not just lend an ear, we lend our soul. We see the cracks and we do not flinch, because we have been cracked too, and we learned that light seeps through those breaks. I do not help people because I expect anything back. I help because I remember what it felt like to have nothing but hope holding me together.
So yes, I am always there. I will always pick up the phone, send the message, offer the shoulder, even when my own is heavy. Not because I am strong all the time, but because I know how much it means when someone simply shows up. That is not weakness, that is empathy in its purest form.
One day, someone will ask again, “Why do you care so much?” And I will still answer the same, because I know how it hurts when no one does.
I care so deeply because I was once the one no one cared for. My kindness is not weakness, it is survival turned into compassion.