It was recruiting my own exploitation.

This is the cruel paradox of being the capable one: the better you are at carrying weight, the more weight you will be handed, and the less anyone will believe you are struggling, precisely because you are too competent to let the struggle show.

I made it look easy for seven years.

And because I made it look easy, everyone concluded it was easy, and kept piling on, until I was carrying an entire family on a back they had all decided was a floor.

The lesson I finally learned is one I would give to every strong person who is quietly drowning under the weight of how much they can bear: your strength is not consent.