The Cost of Keeping Opportunists

Where the Ocean Meets the Queen

When optics matter more than integrity

There comes a moment in your healing when you realize the exhaustion isn’t coming from life itself, it’s coming from the people you’ve been carrying, sometimes even from a distance. The ones who clap the loudest in public but disappear when you need depth and truth. The ones who orbit your light for access, validation, or proximity, yet offer little when it’s time to stand with integrity.

Keeping them feels easier than confronting the truth, but over time, the cost becomes undeniable. Because the most expensive mistake we make is confusing tolerance with authenticity, mistaking addictive behaviors for pain, and choosing to shield the truth simply because lying feels easier.

This year, my own lived experience became a lesson in quiet observation. I watched people enter certain spaces claiming to stand up for women, using the language of empowerment and solidarity, only to seek opportunity for themselves. Behind closed doors, their actions revealed agendas hidden beneath curated smiles.

Using others for personal or financial advantage, minimizing harmful behaviors, and leaving emotional damage in their wake, while speaking the language of healing and empowerment for visibility, validation, and influence.

A bold and courageous woman doesn’t need to be educated on right versus wrong. She doesn’t need to be taught how to stand up for what’s right, even when it costs her peace, her comfort, or temporarily dysregulates her nervous system. She does it anyway. Not for applause or approval, but to protect. To draw a line. To stand firmly against what is harmful, dishonest, and misaligned, especially when silence would be easier.

This quote has been etched into my mind: “What you seek is seeking you.” If you’re an opportunist, you will inevitably be drawn to those who share your energy. In order to use others, you’ll disguise yourself as a savior, only to infiltrate the very core of what needs to be awakened within them.

A righteous soul will never abandon integrity. She may lose faith in systems that fail her, but she will never break faith with herself. She will fall, she will break, and she will rise, again and again and again.

God listens even when you are not seated at tables that speak your name. To a higher force, the good, the bad, and the ugly are never blurred, everything is seen clearly, in black and white.

And if you’ve read this far, know this:
You refuse to normalize dysfunction.
You refuse to be harmed by silence.
And if silence has been the game, then trust in yourself as the awakening still unfolding.

To the opportunists, whether you read this or not, may discernment ensure we never meet, never align, and never cross paths.

My hope is to inspire you. My purpose is to pay it forward with my wisdom and lessons. If you feel lost, alone, drained and need guidance, I’m here to help and heal.

Disclaimer: This article is the original work of Deepti Prakash and is intended for educational and informational purposes only. All content is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or distribution of any part of this work without permission is strictly prohibited. To share or reference this material, please credit the author appropriately and obtain prior written consent.
The views expressed here are rooted in personal experience and reflection. This writing addresses patterns of behavior rather than specific people or events.