It started young for me. I didn't really have anyone to talk with. My father was a sulky, silent brute and I couldn't risk getting yelled at or hit by speaking up. My mother preferred not to hear about turmoil and always told me to think happy thoughts, even as my older sister urged me to image the worst so that whatever did happen to me wouldn't be as bad as I imagined.
My father agreed initially, then said he was too busy (he's retired) and refused to go. He then cut me off and announced to the family that he was disowning me. My sister believes his story that I cut him off. Since she was never treated poorly, she doesn't believe that I was. How can I continue my relationship with her, while she remains close with him?
"I went no-contact with my dad. He had always been emotionally manipulative, especially after my parents divorced when I was 9. But the last straw was when it was Christmas Break during my senior year of high school. I was supposed to spend Christmas with him, but I did not want to spend it with him. He then proceeded to CALL THE COPS ON ME. A 17-year-old."
It's never too early to learn that while it's good to think compassionately about what's happening to others, ultimately they own their behaviour and you own yours.
It's okay to let go of those who couldn't love you. Those who didn't know how to. Those who failed to even try. It's okay to outgrow them, because that means you filled the empty space in you with self-love instead.
One viral post, with almost five million views, shows someone scrolling through their ex-partner's unopened Snapchat messages from other women. "At least I was pinned," the TikToker joked in the caption.
