There was a time in my life when I confused intensity with truth and desire with justification. I made choices driven by emotion rather than integrity, convincing myself that feelings alone were enough to excuse actions that crossed clear moral lines. I became involved with someone who was already committed elsewhere, telling myself the situation was complicated, unique—anything that allowed me to avoid acknowledging the harm being done. In reality, I wasn’t brave enough to face the truth: that I was prioritizing what I wanted over what was right.

When the consequences began to surface—through uncomfortable conversations, visible hurt, and boundaries being broken—I reacted poorly. Instead of empathy, I chose defensiveness. Instead of accountability, I chose self-protection. I was so absorbed in my own emotions that I failed to recognize the real people affected by my decisions, people whose pain I had never paused to consider. At the time, I believed that protecting my heart justified everything else.