The Octopus and the Inner War
There’s a version of you that wants to grow. And one that keeps pulling back. This is what happens when both are in charge.
The Decision-Making Octopus, Part VI
Read The Decision-Making Octopus — an 8-part series about internal chaos, emotional sabotage, and showing up anyway.
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← Part V: The Octopus and the Lie of Balance
There are two of you.
There’s the version who wants to do better:
Be kind. Be patient. Show up. Try.
And there’s the version that panics.
Shuts down.
Says the wrong thing.
Wants to be left alone.
This post is about what happens when both are trying to run your life at the same time.
The Split
The Octopus isn’t just chaotic.
It’s divided.
Some tentacles want connection.
Some want distance.
Some want growth.
Some want to set everything on fire and start again with a new name.
The result?
You become someone who wants love and flinches from it.
Someone who longs for quiet but can’t sit still.
Someone who says, “I’m fine,” and means, “I’m drowning.”
The War Inside
There’s a version of you that’s trying to heal.
But it keeps getting body-checked by the older version—the one who learned not to trust softness.
