There are days that instead of receiving a deserved apology, you receive a hard wall of “how dare you“ and “I’m right, you’re wrong.” You let it go because you realize you’ve been tried and judged and found guilty in a trial you didn’t know had been held, in a courtroom, you weren’t even in, but you let it roll knowing that those who judge you so harshly are not your people and don’t have your back, and it‘s not worth the fight.

There are days that you try to speak your truth and end up being insulted to the core of who you are. Gut punched right where it hurts the most. And you let it go because you refuse to engage in a firefight where your honest responses would hurt someone to the core of who they are, and you refuse to throw those ugly punches.

Remember this on these days…

You stood up for yourself. You stood up for your people. You turned the other cheek. You spoke your truth. You made peace when your instinct was to lash out. You refused to be hurtful in response to being hurt. You refused to hurl insults in the face of being insulted. You swallowed a horse feed sized bag of shit because the alternative was nastiness and conflict and an adrenalin-filled poopnado. You realized, in the face of people not having your back, that there are so many that love you and do.

You know the truth of your heart. You know the truth of your soul. You know the truth of your experiences. What other people choose to believe is out of your control. Stand in this.”