Chasing my silent strength

**Silent Strength**
*By Jessy Jacob ❤️*

I mend my ways quietly,
like rivers changing course
to protect the shores they love.

My father once told me,
“Do a job…
business is not for people like us.”
So I folded my dreams carefully,
like letters never sent,
and kept them inside my heart.

I wished to become an entrepreneur,
not only for myself,
but to create work
for those who struggle to find it.
I had seen empty hands,
worried faces,
and the weight of unemployment.

But sometimes love speaks
through fear and protection.

So I changed my path.
If not business,
then education.
If not risk,
then stability.
If not dreams flying high,
then dreams growing slowly.

Now I prepare again—
another competitive exam,
another step toward an MBA,
another hope for tomorrow.
The world feels uncertain,
markets slowed by wars far away,
yet I choose to use this season
to become stronger.

My son asked to meet in November,
and so I changed my plans
to see him during Thanksgiving.
Because love always rearranges
the calendar of our hearts.

I do not force people
to understand me.
I simply try
to do what they believe
is best for me.

My husband listens in silence,
my father worries in silence,
my son loves in silence—
and maybe
I cry in silence too.

Sometimes I wonder
if my thoughts sound strange,
or if my dreams
do not fit the shape
of theirs.
So I stop arguing.
I smile softly,
wipe my tears quietly,
and carry my sadness within.

Still, I try.
I try to become someone
they feel proud of.
Not because I have stopped dreaming,
but because love also means
understanding limits,
timing,
and family.

Sometimes listening to family
saves us
from losing ourselves completely
in stubborn dreams.

And despite everything,
I know this truth—

I love my family deeply,
and in their own ways,
they are trying
to do what is best for me.

— Jessy Jacob ❤️