Not everyone who walks into your life is meant to stay for the whole journey. Some people are passengers. They show up for a chapter, teach you what you needed, shift you in a small way, then they get off. That is not betrayal. It is timing.
The mistake is giving temporary people permanent seats. Handing them the steering wheel. Letting them pick the route. Holding on long after their stop has passed. Losing someone is not always a failure. Sometimes it is the route correcting itself.
I think about the times I clung to what was already over, tried to extend a chapter past its ending, and turned the silence into self-blame. They were passengers, not drivers.
Some people are lessons, not lifetimes. Some stories end so new ones can begin. The right people do more than ride with you. They help you steer.
