Are You Happy?

I asked her the other day, “Are you happy, or are you just staying for the sake of your children?”

It wasn’t a fight.

It wasn’t anger.

Just one of those quiet questions that sit in your chest for months, waiting for the courage to be spoken aloud.

Because the truth is — we all know someone living like that.

Waking up every day, going through the motions, holding a home together not out of joy, but out of duty.

Smiling at the kids, laughing when needed, but carrying a silence in the eyes.

Maybe you’ve been there too.

Staying because leaving feels like breaking the family apart. Because society whispers that “good parents stay.”

Because you fear being the villain in your children’s story.

But here’s the thing:

children know.

They might not have the words, but they can feel it.

They feel the heavy air in the house.

They sense when love has turned into obligation. They notice when two people share a roof but not a life.

So I asked. Not to push her away, not to trap her, but to give her space to choose herself.

Happiness isn’t selfish — it’s survival. And children don’t just need parents who stay. They need parents who live.

Because love, real love, should never feel like a prison sentence served for the sake of others. It should be a choice, made freely, every single day.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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Photo credit: Desiray Green on Unsplash

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