“The truth is, I have worked hard to not dislike myself so much, but I still worry, sometimes in an acute, frightened, little-kid way, about being too weird and maybe even scary.”
I applaud your desire to protect younger you from hearing the negativity and rejection. Would that we could go back and intervene on behalf of our younger selves! That letter was awesome! It was heartfelt and earnest. And I have a bunch of similar experiences in my history. I was going to say "a thousand" and then I realized, like you, I learned quickly that being earnest and real was scary to people, and I learned to hide it. What recovery has provided is a sense that there were, and are, so many of us, and it has let me find folks I can trust to show my real self.
That letter, if I were in their shoes, would have made my *year*. That person who called your mom made a real mistake of misunderstanding.
No day but today ❤️❤️❤️
I applaud your desire to protect younger you from hearing the negativity and rejection. Would that we could go back and intervene on behalf of our younger selves! That letter was awesome! It was heartfelt and earnest. And I have a bunch of similar experiences in my history. I was going to say "a thousand" and then I realized, like you, I learned quickly that being earnest and real was scary to people, and I learned to hide it. What recovery has provided is a sense that there were, and are, so many of us, and it has let me find folks I can trust to show my real self.