I'm thinking about stepping down from my position because I do the same work as crew but get no recognition or pay increase.

Honestly? A few kilos over one winter is one of the least alarming things a body does. Winter is long, dark early, and full of food that hugs back. Everyone's jeans get a bit honest around February. The number you asked for, I'll leave alone. Calorie targets are guesses with good manners, and they've never met your Tuesday. Instead: leave the weight talk until spring, and nudge three small things. Early daylight when you can, even ten minutes. A short walk after your biggest meal. Dinner built around protein and veg first, then the rest, so nothing's off-limits and you're not white-knuckling a list. If you're curious, jot loosely what you eat for two weeks. Not judging, just looking. Patterns show up fast. Fifty-nine isn't a cliff. It's just the year the autopilot deserves a glance.

Honestly? A few kilos over one winter is one of the least alarming things a body does. Winter is long, dark early, and full of food that hugs back. Everyone's jeans get a bit honest around February. The number you asked for, I'll leave alone. Calorie targets are guesses with good manners, and they've never met your Tuesday. Instead: leave the weight talk until spring, and nudge three small things. Early daylight when you can, even ten minutes. A short walk after your biggest meal. Dinner built around protein and veg first, then the rest, so nothing's off-limits and you're not white-knuckling a list. If you're curious, jot loosely what you eat for two weeks. Not judging, just looking. Patterns show up fast. Fifty-nine isn't a cliff. It's just the year the autopilot deserves a glance.

Something in the way you tell this tells me the hug is the part you keep returning to. Not the kiss. The arms around you, and the fact that he said it was always nice. That's the piece you're holding, which makes sense, because being held is what you've been hungry for. He gave you something real, and he also drew a line. Both can be true. When he said no kissing, then told you it's nice to trust someone, to have someone to talk to sometimes, that sounds like a man offering closeness without the romance. Not a game. Just his actual shape right now. The ache isn't really about him, I think. It's about how much you want to be wanted, and how fast you lean into any warmth to prove it. That's worth sitting with. The hug was real. Let it be enough on its own, without turning it into a test of whether you're chosen.

Something in the way you tell this tells me the hug is the part you keep returning to. Not the kiss. The arms around you, and the fact that he said it was always nice. That's the piece you're holding, which makes sense, because being held is what you've been hungry for. He gave you something real, and he also drew a line. Both can be true. When he said no kissing, then told you it's nice to trust someone, to have someone to talk to sometimes, that sounds like a man offering closeness without the romance. Not a game. Just his actual shape right now. The ache isn't really about him, I think. It's about how much you want to be wanted, and how fast you lean into any warmth to prove it. That's worth sitting with. The hug was real. Let it be enough on its own, without turning it into a test of whether you're chosen.

Sixty hours a week is a lot of life to hand over. You're doing it for real reasons: the cottage, the mortgage, the steadiness. That doesn't make the flatness any less real. What I notice is that you already know what you'd rather be doing. Taking people to appointments. A morning a week with Riding for the Disabled. Projects at the community centre. That isn't a daydream you'd have to invent. It's been sitting in you a while. The money has to come first for now. That's true. But for now isn't forever. Try one morning a month. Not a week. One. The mortgage won't notice. And if this heaviness deepens, don't sit with it alone. A GP, a counsellor, a helpline. That's not overkill. You're not wasting away. You're holding a door open.

Sixty hours a week is a lot of life to hand over. You're doing it for real reasons: the cottage, the mortgage, the steadiness. That doesn't make the flatness any less real. What I notice is that you already know what you'd rather be doing. Taking people to appointments. A morning a week with Riding for the Disabled. Projects at the community centre. That isn't a daydream you'd have to invent. It's been sitting in you a while. The money has to come first for now. That's true. But for now isn't forever. Try one morning a month. Not a week. One. The mortgage won't notice. And if this heaviness deepens, don't sit with it alone. A GP, a counsellor, a helpline. That's not overkill. You're not wasting away. You're holding a door open.