It’s incredible how free you feel when you start expressing yourself truthfully and communicating clearly.

And sad how much resentment and conflict and suffering could be avoided if it were more common.

It absolutely will be uncomfortable in the short term, you may even lose a partner, friend, or job…but consider the value they were even providing to your life if their dissolution was a direct consequence of you being true to yourself and communicating clearly.

I’ve only made steps in that direction and despite a few uncomfortable moments the thing I noticed first was an overwhelming sense of liberation and self respect. I had a few intense conversations and admittedly made a few people uncomfortable, but in hindsight they were necessary and a small price to pay.

Because after all life is short…do you really want to spend it…

Tip toeing on thin ice and bottling up frustrations until you find yourself popping antidepressants surrounded by codependent people you don’t even like?

Having to put on a facade around someone you’re dating?

Trying to undermine your partner subtly because of some way they wronged you in the past or out of jealousy or because you failed to communicate boundaries?

Daydreaming about standing up to people and having difficult conversations?

Dreaming of the future in which miraculously all is well and you’ve moved beyond whatever issues you’ve been avoiding confrontation with?

Feeling invisible because you’re too insecure to truly express your opinions and passions around people?

Friendless because you’ve decided the best way around your insecurities is by outright avoiding people?

Loveless for the same reason?

Watching friends or family or a partner spiral downwards because you didn’t have the spine to tell them what they didn’t want to but ultimately needed to hear?

Feeling like you’re just marking time until you return to the nothingness?

What a fucking miserable way to live.

Of course we must be receptive to feedback, continually reflecting and refining ourselves, and if we’re having negative interactions with everybody then that’s call for some serious introspection and assessment of our delivery and communication style, plus we should always be tactful and understanding toward others.

But none of that is mutually exclusive to self expression and strong communication.

I know that we all know this but very few seem to live by it so I thought it was worth reminder.