Hidden Compass

Many people
grow up believing

their instincts
are unreliable.

Not because
their instincts failed—

but because
someone repeatedly
told them
what they felt
couldn't possibly be true.

So doubt
moves in quietly.

Every decision
requires permission.

Every memory
faces interrogation.

Every emotion
stands trial.

Until one day,

they trust themselves
for five whole minutes.

Then ten.

Then an hour.

And eventually

they realize

their inner compass
was never broken.

It had simply spent years
beneath someone else's hand.