Reverb10 – Letting Go
December 5 – Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why? (Author: Alice Bradley)
I’ve kind of alluded to this one a couple times in the past few months, but I’ve never really told the story. I’m still not really going to tell the story. Exactly what happened isn’t important… what it comes down to is this: Around the beginning of June, some things came to light that made it very clear that some people that I thought were good friends were really not good friends at all. And maybe hadn’t been for awhile. I was kind of blindsided by it all, and obviously, I was pretty hurt.
Here’s the thing though. I believe that you have to populate your world with people that are supportive of you… I’ve heard a couple of analogies for this. Who is on your island… Who sits in the front row of your theater… Who is in your living room, and who is out in one of the metal buildings on the far side of your property… I think you get the point.
Anyway, I decided a few years ago that I was going to decide how people were allowed to treat me. And if people chose to treat me in ways that were not acceptable, then I would have to choose where to go next, if they would be allowed in my living room, so to speak. In this case, that meant walking away from friendships that used to be very important to me. It seems very casual and easy to just write this and put it out there, but don’t misunderstand me. It was very difficult, but it was what was right for me at the time and I don’t have any regrets. Except for maybe not figuring out the backstabbing a bit sooner.
In the end, it has all worked out fairly well… because also in the beginning of June, SBRG officially formed and I was surrounded by a group of really amazing, supportive girls. Who needs a friend who is not a friend when you have 40 girls like these in your life?
December 18th, 2010 at 3:58 am
I’ve talked for years about “teaching people how to treat you” but I’ve only been learning to live it this years. It’s hard, so hard, but I’m happier for it. I can see you are, too.