When you become more assertive of your value, people start to pull away. It’s not you! You are not the problem, they have just seen they can’t advantage anymore.
You just start saying no to things more.
I think it's better to think of yourself as a not-so-good person who tries everyday to do right by people than to think of yourself as a good person who tries not to do wrong. To me, the former is freeing and more compatible with the human condition.
One of the best things you can do for yourself in adulthood, is to learn how to leave things alone.
Just leave it alone. Situations, people, whatever it is, leave it alone.
If I’m having a tough conversation with you, it’s because I want you in my life and want you to tighten up so I can keep you in it. I’m not attacking you.
I’ve said this before, but being a genuinely kind and authentic person who expresses your vulnerabilities and/or doesn’t follow certain unspoken “social hierarchy” rules will put a major target on your back by those who see those traits as “performative” or even manipulative/deceitful.
People who consistently view others that way are telling on themselves. How we perceive the world (including other people) mirrors the conditions of our own inner world.
A healthy person does not interpret basic consideration as some kind of control tactic. A grounded person does not consistently assume the worst of others.
Doing so will either 1. eventually create a self-fulfilling prophecy, or, 2. result in the cognitive distortion of “confirmation bias,” where the other person cannot “win” no matter what they do because you have already decided their intentions or motivations for them.
why is wearing a hat as someone who doesn't usually wear hats so difficult and humiliating. it feels like everyone can tell i don't know what i'm doing