You Don’t Need A Permission To Take Up Space. Stop Waiting. Start Building.

If the door won’t open, maybe it was never your door.

Image generated with freepik by the author.

Let’s be honest — trying to belong where you’re not really wanted is one of the most exhausting things you can do.

I’ve been there. Maybe you have too.

You keep showing up. You work hard. You wait for someone to say, “Hey, we see you. Come have a seat.” But that invitation never comes. And slowly, you start questioning everything about yourself.

You start thinking, Maybe I need to be quieter. Maybe I’m not good enough yet. Maybe if I just hold on a little longer, they’ll finally let me in.

But here’s a truth that hits hard once it sinks in:

Some tables were never built for you — and that’s okay.

I’ve spent time trying to get into rooms that didn’t value what I had to say. Trying to impress people who didn’t even look in my direction. And I didn’t always beg with words — but I begged with my energy. My silence. My effort. My willingness to make myself small, just to be accepted.

And you know what? It never worked.

Not in a way that felt right.

Not in a way that let me be myself.