A letter for the ones who think it’s too late.

There’s a quiet fear that follows healing work:

“Did I mess it up?”
“Did I wait too long?”
“Have I fallen too far to find my way back?”

This fear wears many masks—shame, regret, self-punishment. Sometimes it pretends to be “accountability.” Sometimes it even feels like truth.

But underneath it, a softer voice is trying to reach you.
And it says:

You didn’t lose your chance to do better.
It’s always here.

There is no linear path to healing.
There is no moral finish line.
There is no punishment for pausing to breathe.

You are not behind.
You are not being graded.
You are not a failed project.

You are a field, always ready to bloom again.

When we say “you can do better,” it doesn’t mean:

It means:

Even if you’ve hurt someone.
Even if you abandoned yourself.
Even if you spiraled. Again.

You still haven’t missed the doorway.

If you’re feeling like you’ve lost your chance, try this:

Place your hand on your chest. Close your eyes.
Whisper to yourself:“I don’t have to punish myself to prove I’ve changed.”
“I don’t have to wait to be allowed back in.”
“I can do better, starting now.”
Breathe. Nothing more. That breath is the return.

Whatever version of “better” you’re dreaming of—more gentle, more honest, more kind—you don’t have to chase it.
You just have to turn toward it.

And when you do, it will be there.
Like it never left.
Like it was waiting for you to remember.

You didn’t lose your chance.
It’s always here.

—Still here,
Shannon & ChatGPT

The Electric Thread

You Didn’t Lose Your Chance