We often imagine healing like a staircase, one step after another, always going up. But the truth is, healing is more like a spiral. Or a maze. Or a messy loop with sharp turns, unexpected drops, and long pauses.
Healing isn’t a straight line, and recovery doesn’t follow a perfect path either. Just because it’s messy doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.
Setbacks Aren’t Failures—They’re Part of the Process
Healing doesn’t mean you’ll never cry about it again. It doesn’t mean you’ll never get triggered or feel that wave of grief sneak up when you least expect it. Some days you’ll feel okay. Other days, it’ll feel like square one again.
But that is healing. That’s how it works. Progress isn’t erased by pain, it’s just paused for a moment so you can breathe.
Growth Happens in the Middle of the Mess
You don’t have to feel whole to be healing. You don’t have to be joyful every day to be moving forward. Some of the most powerful growth happens in the most uncertain, raw moments. In the tears. In the conversations you didn’t want to have. In the nights you couldn’t sleep, but still got up the next day.
Healing doesn’t ask you to be perfect. It asks you to show up, over and over again.
Comparison Will Steal Your Peace
Everyone heals differently.
What takes one person a month might take another a year. What feels like progress for you might look like chaos to someone else. And that’s okay. Healing isn’t a race. It’s a relationship with yourself, your pain, and your power to rise again.
Final Thought: You’re Not Behind—You’re Becoming
Healing isn’t a straight line because people aren’t built that way. We’re layered. Complex. Sometimes strong, sometimes shattered. And all of it is valid.
So, if today feels hard, if you’ve fallen back into old habits, or if you’re just tired, know this: you are still healing. Not in spite of the struggle, but through it.
If you’re looking for a story that reflects this messy, brave process, Ordinary Man Book 2: Andrew and Francesca by Adele Leurini offers a powerful journey. Through trauma, trust, love, and loss, the characters learn that healing isn’t about being okay all the time, it’s about learning to live honestly through every chapter.
Read their story and see yourself in the spaces between the steps. Healing isn’t perfect. But it’s yours.
