It's 2022!!! I am so excited to have made it to another year with you all. Unfortunately we are still battling Covid-19 in all of its various forms but I am grateful to still be alive despite all that’s happening in the world.
My family and I had a very low key Christmas. There weren’t a bunch of gifts to exchange but we spent the day together just enjoying each other's company. I really enjoyed that. But the last couple weeks of 2021 taught me some very valuable lessons. The most important of them all is to protect your peace at all costs. I learned some things that shook me to my core. Things that I had suspected but had no way to prove. Then they all came to light. I was hurt and confused but simultaneously unbothered. I don’t know another way to explain it. I realize that these emotions don’t often go together but in this moment they did. Things started to make sense that didn’t make sense before, I got clarity on things that I had spent a long time confused about. It was one of those things where you wanted to know but you really didn’t want to know although you needed to know. But at this point I am glad I know because it has given me a chance to get clear on who I am and what I will and will not accept in my life.
For a very long time I accepted things that were dished out to me because I always believed I had no other choice. I accepted abuse, being used, being lied on and lied to, being bullied, and all sorts of other negative behaviors because I honestly believed I had no other choice. It took a good while to get here but I have gained the confidence in myself to understand that I do not have to accept being mistreated. More importantly, standing up for yourself is not being rude or disrespectful. Expecting me to tolerate being disrespected consistently speaks more to your character than it does mine.
Behind all of the things I learned and the various emotions I felt, the most important thing I learned is that my peace means more to me than anything else. I make the decision about what affects me and what doesn’t. It is my job to protect my physical space as well as my emotional space. If what you are bringing into my space is not going to increase my peace, it is my right to reject it. Feel how you want but the days of me allowing people to walk all over me are gone. I am no one’s doormat. If you feel you deserve respect, what in your mind makes me any different?
Everybody deserves common human decency. I don't care what your social status is, what position you hold, or where you live, no one has the right to mistreat anyone just because they think they can. I have resolved to this; in 2022 and forward I am protecting my peace at all cost. If this offends you, that's something you need to work out within yourself. This is still me learning my value and my self-worth and I now know that I deserve to be honored and respected. You too deserve to be honored and respected. Don’t allow anyone to dishonor you because they simply choose to. If they get offended when you tell them you won’t accept their behavior you know that they are not someone you need in your life.