You Do Not Need Closure

We are taught to believe closure is something someone else gives us.

A final conversation.
A heartfelt apology.

An explanation that makes it all make sense.
So we wait.

We wait for the text, the call, the moment where everything gets wrapped up neatly and we are finally allowed to exhale.
But for many situations in life, that moment never comes.

And here is the quiet realization this practice offers:

Closure is not an event. It is an internal decision.

You do not need their words to free your heart.
You do not need their understanding to find peace.
You do not need their participation to let go.

You can clean the emotional charge without revisiting the story.

This is where the four phrases do their gentle work:

I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.

You are not saying them to the other person.
You are saying them to the part of you still holding the moment.

And as you repeat them, the need for resolution begins to soften, the urgency fades, and the story loses its grip.

You realize something unexpected:
You were not waiting for closure.

You were waiting for relief.
And relief is something you can give yourself.

When the emotional weight lifts, you no longer feel incomplete. You no longer need the conversation to feel finished.

Because inside you… it is.

That is true closure.
Not when the situation resolves.

But when your heart does.