Using Your Voice to Have Healthy Relationships
When I was six years old, my mom faced a dilemma.
I was a smart kid who loved to read. And because my reading level was so high, my principal suggested I skip two grades, going from first to third.
The problem? I was painfully shy, and bullied often. My mom ultimately decided it was better to keep me in first grade, with the one or two friends that I had, than to move me into a new environment that I did not have the social skills to handle.
Unfortunately, even as adults, many of us women still do not have the social skills to properly handle relationships. We are encouraged to play small in every aspect of our lives. To be physically small, and unrealistically thin. To take up as little space as possible. To allow others to interrupt us when we’re speaking so they can get in their bigger and better ideas. To be accommodating to others — whether or not they are willing to accommodate us.
Love, this smallness is killing you. It is killing your hopes and dreams. It is causing you stress and anxiety, which are bad for both your mind and your body. And it is causing you to settle for struggle love. It is not your job to live your life in a way that is convenient for everyone else, but not for you.
Do you truly want a loving, healthy, and cherished relationship? Then you can no longer afford to be small. Know your boundaries. Set and enforce those boundaries. Speak your mind, even when your voice trembles or changes in pitch. Own your energy. You do no have to subscribe to an extreme form of modesty, covering features of yours that you love, downplaying your intelligence, being afraid to embrace your passions. Set firm intentions for what you want in your life, and who you want in your life. And be unapologetic about it.
Resources for You to Check Out
Instagram Account: Sit with Whit
Book: Boundaries
