Imagine your Emotionally Immature Parent calls or texts, and for the first time, you don't spend the rest of the day wondering if you said everything wrong.
They try to twist what you meant. They start criticizing you or blaming you for something, but this time, something's different. You catch yourself before you take the bait. You see it happening—and instead of drowning in "am I crazy? did I make it all up?"—you just know: that wasn't about me.
Instead, you hang up, but this time, the spiral doesn't come. No lying on the couch replaying every word. No texting three people asking if you're the problem. No losing the rest of your day to "what I should have said." You're just... okay. Still you.
And the relief—the sweet relief—of finally trusting yourself. Of not needing to ask everyone else if your reality is real. Of knowing the difference between their voice saying "you're the problem" and your own voice saying "I didn't do anything wrong."
That's what's possible when you stop carrying what was never yours.