The Price of Peace

[Intro]
Mm, hey
Ooh, ah

[Verse 1]
I didn't leave 'cause I stopped loving them
I left cause I started loving me, and peace don't always come free
Sometimes it costs everything
I used to shrink to keep the peace, bit my tongue, held my breath
Let people stay in rooms with me who drained my spirit half to death
I was the glue, the listener, the "you know she'll understand"
But nobody asked how I was, they just reached out for my hands
I kept forgiven silence, excuse, and disrespect
Calling it just how they are while losing pieces of myself

[Chorus 1]
My peace cost me my people, but I ain't sorry for the bill
Had to lose some hearts I held just to learn how to be still
I cried for them in private, even prayed they'd understand
But peace don't come from holding on
To people who don't hold your hand
They say, "You've changed", I say, "I healed"
But healing ain't a place they could stand, so yeah
My peace cost me my people, and that's the part they'll never understand
Ooh, yeah

[Verse 2]
Family felt entitled, friends felt overdue
But nobody noticed what staying around them put me through
Every time I said "Yes" when my soul whispered "No"
I traded my joy just so they wouldn't go
But peace got louder and God got clear
He said, "If they can't grow with you, then they can't stay near"

[Chorus 2]
My peace cost me my people, but survival had a cost
I had to grieve the living like somebody I had lost
They still talk in circles, still say I changed too much
But I don't miss the noise, I don't miss the clutch
I gave up chaos, I gave up pain
I gave up playing roles in somebody else's game, so yeah
My peace cost me my people, but peace is how I kept my name, name

[Bridge]
I don't hate them, I just don't miss begging for love
I don't miss explaining myself to folks who never heard me
I don't miss holding space for people who never held space for me

[Chorus 3]
My peace cost me my people, but I sleep better at night
And I ain't arguing with energy that don't deserve my fight
If choosing me, feel selfish, then I guess I finally chose right
'Cause I lost the crowd, but I found my light
So if you ask me, "Was it worth the tears?," the quiet, the shift, yes

[Outro]
Because peace is finally something I didn't have to beg to live with