What is lost is never lost to me

Some people say “let it go.”

Others say “move on.”
But I’ve never been good at pretending I didn’t care.

Because the things I’ve lost?
They stay with me.

Not as anchors.
But as echoes.
As lessons.
As whispers of who I used to be and who I still carry.

I’ve lost people.
Moments.
Plans that never happened.
Versions of myself that I had to outgrow before I was ready.

And yet… I still feel them.

Not always painfully.
But tenderly.

Loss doesn’t mean absence.
It means transformation.

The friend I drifted from?
Still shapes how I show up in new relationships.

The opportunity I missed?
Taught me how to build my own.

The dream that died quietly in my chest?
Planted a different one I didn’t know I needed.

So no what is lost is never lost to me.

It lives in the way I speak.
In the way I forgive.
In the way I protect my peace now.

I may not hold it in my hands anymore…
But it shaped the hands I have.

Final thought:
Some things leave.
But they don’t disappear.
They become part of your code.