People always say, "If it's real, it'll work."

I used to believe that too. I met her during my NYSC year. She was smart, funny, and somehow knew how to make even the worst days feel lighter. We spent almost every weekend together, talking about everything from our careers to the kind of family we wanted one day. The problem wasn't that we didn't love each other. The problem was that we wanted different things at different times.

She got a scholarship to study abroad, and I had just started building a business in Nigeria. Neither of us wanted to give up our dreams, and neither of us wanted to ask the other person to sacrifice theirs.

For months, we tried convincing ourselves that long-distance would be enough. We made schedules, promised daily calls, and counted down the days until we'd see each other again. Reality was different.

The time difference became exhausting. Conversations became shorter. We started missing important moments in each other's lives. Eventually, it felt like we were forcing something that life wasn't making easy. The day we ended things, nobody shouted or cried. We just sat there, knowing love wasn't always enough to overcome timing. Years later, I still smile whenever I remember her. Would I choose love again? Yes.

But not in the same circumstances. Sometimes walking away isn't because someone failed you. Sometimes it's because holding on means asking both people to stop growing. I don't regret loving her, but I also don't regret letting her go.