Poison Death.

In my 16 years of living, I have met thousands of people.  Some of them, I bonded with.  I like connecting with people.  Relationships are very important to me.  However, if someone is hurting me, no matter how much I care about them, that kind of behavior is unacceptable and won’t be tolerated.

Okay, you have an orchid.  One orchid.  It is your very favorite orchid and you love it above all else.  Someone comes up and waters your orchid with gasoline.  Wow, rude.  Well, maybe they’ll stop.  Oh — no, they didn’t.  It’s become a monthly thing…then weekly…then daily.

What are you gonna do?  Are you gonna be calm and invite them to hang out with you next Thursday?  Of course not.  Are you going to murder them?  No, it was a flower, chill out.  Are you going to avoid further contact in the future?  Hopefully.  Are you gonna hide your flower to keep it safe?  I’ll pray for you if you don’t.

When you love something, you do what you can to keep it safe.  If someone walks all over you, spits in your eye, and calls you worthless, don’t go back.  You’re letting someone pump toxins into your mind.

Okay, less dramatic example.  If you know someone and they don’t really care you exist, why would you worry about having them in your life?  You could easily find other people who care, why would you chase after that one specific person?  They don’t ask (or care) how you’re doing, they don’t listen to what you have to say, and they don’t even realize whether you even showed up.  Why are you giving them space in your life?  They’re standing in front of your flower, blocking out the sun.  You’re watching your flower die.

I’ve learned a lot of hard lessons over the years, but the most important is how important it is to take care of yourself.  When people don’t care, focus on surrounding yourself with people who do care.  In 20 years, who’s gonna be making sure you’re in a good place?  The person who didn’t give you the time of day or the one who cared when you were most in need of care?