There’s a version of closure we’re taught to wait for.
An apology.
An explanation.
A conversation that finally makes it all make sense.
And then there’s the kind of closure you reach when you’re tired of waiting.
This episode — the final episode of 2025 — is about that kind.
After a full year of showing up with Level Up Your Selfie — one episode a week, no disappearing, no ghosting myself — I realized something quietly but clearly:
Closure isn’t something someone else gives you.
It’s something you decide.
And that decision changes everything.
A Year of Consistency (Even When Life Was Messy)
This year wasn’t about being healed, polished, or “done.”
It was about staying.
Staying when I felt strong.
Staying when I felt confused.
Staying when I knew better — but my nervous system hadn’t caught up yet.
Because here’s the truth we don’t say out loud enough:
You can be self-aware.
You can give great advice.
You can understand the patterns.
And still get pulled into old loops.
That doesn’t make you weak.
It makes you human.
Consistency this year wasn’t a content strategy.
It was a commitment to not abandoning myself — even when things got uncomfortable.
What Closure Actually Is (And Isn’t)
Closure isn’t:
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an apology that finally lands
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accountability from someone who avoids it
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clarity from a situation that thrives on confusion
Closure is the moment you stop negotiating your boundaries.
It’s when you realize:
“I don’t need more information.
I need to choose myself.”
Some stories don’t need better endings.
They need your exit.
Trauma Bonds, Loops & Knowing Better
One of the hardest lessons this year was accepting that knowing better doesn’t always mean feeling free.
Trauma bonds don’t live in logic.
They live in the body.
In familiarity.
In nervous system memory.
In patterns that once felt like survival.
So when people ask,
“Why didn’t you just walk away?”
The honest answer is:
Because healing isn’t linear — and courage doesn’t always arrive on schedule.
But every time you choose yourself one inch earlier than before, that’s growth.
New Year, New Me — But Not in the Way You Think
“New me” doesn’t mean erasing who you were.
It means raising your standards without apologizing.
It means no longer romanticizing confusion.
It means choosing peace over potential.
It means realizing that love shouldn’t feel like self-abandonment.
This year taught me that choosing yourself often looks quiet.
There’s no applause.
No dramatic exit.
Just a firm inner decision that says:
“I’m done accepting the bare minimum.”
What I’m Carrying Forward (And What I’m Leaving Behind)
I’m leaving behind:
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waiting for closure from people who can’t give it
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explaining my boundaries to be understood
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mistaking intensity for intimacy
I’m carrying forward:
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self-trust
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presence
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better standards
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and a deeper respect for my own nervous system
Not perfection.
Just honesty.
If This Episode Resonated…
If you’ve ever thought:
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“I should be further along.”
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“Why does it still hurt when I know better?”
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“Why does choosing myself feel so quiet?”
You’re not alone.
This episode — and this year — is proof that healing doesn’t have to be loud to be real.
Sometimes closure isn’t the end of the story.
It’s the moment you stop dragging old wounds into a new year.
🎧 Listen to Episode 52: Closure: New Year, New Me (With Better Standards)
Available now on Spotify & Apple Podcasts.
If this spoke to you, follow the podcast, share it with someone who needs permission to choose themselves, or leave a review — it truly helps more than you know.
Here’s to presence over perfection.
Self-respect over old patterns.
And a new year entered clean.
✨ As Always Extra RainbOH!w Sparkles & Good Vibes OH!nly ✨🦄💦🌈
/ Angelina Mi Lajki
