This week, I’ve been reflecting on the weight of others’ judgments and the freedom of letting go …
If I had to work so hard to earn the love and acceptance I should've earned for free, perhaps that love and acceptance isn't worth fighting for any longer.
If you keep insinuating that I'm a bad person even when we both know I'm not, perhaps it's time I lived up to that insinuation and acted as a bad person.
If you insist on gaslighting me because of a fictional narrative that you've built in your head about me or because it makes you feel good and justified when you look in the mirror, perhaps I don't need to listen to or tolerate your words or behaviors any longer.
If you believe that you're entitled to judge my lifestyle and my choices while you don't know the details of my life or my choices, perhaps I shouldn't worry about your judgment or opinions.
If you go out of your way to twist your argument and reasoning to justify saying the exact opposite of what you said five minutes ago, perhaps your whole reasoning is false, and I needn't even push back against it or explain how wrong it is.
If you project your jealousy, envy, insecurity at me, perhaps you need a different mirror to look in to see who you really are.
If you preach all the right things, insist that your values and worldview are superior to mine, but you still say mean things about me, gaslight me, wish I didn't exist, perhaps your values and worldviews aren't as good as you believe they are.
If I don’t feel safe enough to speak my mind and express my views around you, perhaps you’re not as tolerant as you say you are.
Perhaps, in the end, the greatest act of love is choosing myself—surrounding myself with those who see my worth, who lift me up without demanding I prove it, and who make space for my truth to breathe.