Without your consent

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. ~ Dr. Maya Angelou

I'm learning a lot about myself while doing this love cleanse. One thing that is really upsetting to me, that I think I knew but never faced, is how much of my own self-worth I let other people decide.

I think we all do it, to a certain extent. I see it a lot, especially in my girlfriends, and especially in those that have been in unhealthy relationships. It's almost as if, after having our self-esteem attacked by one person, we go looking for someone else to build it up.

I spend a lot of time thinking I'm not good enough. I worry that because I'm not the prettiest, or the thinnest or the youngest, that I won't ever find anyone. That maybe my time has passed, and it's too late for me to find love.

Then I realize, I only feel that way because Big and 28YO didn't want me - they decided I wasn't good enough. Well, wait a minute - who gave them that right?!

The only answer? Me. I give them that right every time I let myself get sucked back into that way of thinking. So that needs to stop. Now.

I need to stop looking to them, or anyone else, to find what I like and don't like about me. I have to learn to like me for me. I'm the only one who can decide what's good enough for me - what I like and what I don't, what I need to change, and what I can do better.

I'm done giving others that right.