the role you became to survive

We all learn roles.
Some of us learn them too well.

The Helper. The Professional. The Reliable One.
The Calm Voice. The Fixer. The Face of the Brand.

And over time, it stops feeling like a role.
It starts to feel like you.

Not because it is…
but because it’s safer than the truth:
That you don’t even know who you are when you’re not being “useful.”

This is what happens when function replaces identity.

When the things you’re good at become mistaken
for the things you are.
By others. By you.

The disorientation is real:
You’re not lying.
You’re surviving.

But even survival strategies,
when repeated enough —
start to feel like personality traits.

Until one day you wonder:
Is this me… or the version I learned to become?

✧ quiet prompt:

What strengths were born from a need to be safe — not a desire to be known?

🌒 go deeper:

→ read: role fusion + high-functioning identity dissonance → chapter: decoding