When someone you love tells you “you’re different” so they can avoid taking responsibility for what they are doing, or not,

Give them what they cannot or will not do for themselves.

Do not allow the guilt they feel about being stuck in the choices that they have made, or not, hold you back from becoming a better, more beautiful you.

Change is central to who we are; we humans are made to grow. Change, evolution, and growth are a vital part of the human experience.

Those who refuse to change may find themselves to be like the walking dead, or, regrettably, they may soon wither and die because they did not prune themselves to make room for new growth.

When someone who you love tries to put you down for changing or growing; if they attempt to hurt you with abusive words and actions simply because you have decided to grow,

Make no apology for being yourself. Be Different.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with adapting to the curve balls that come in your life by endeavoring to become more healthy and responsible for yourself.

Don’t let the shame others feel about themselves be something you put on yourself. This is their dilemma, not yours.

You do not have to be like any and everybody else, especially not like those who are stuck in their self-destructive ways of being and in the inability to mature and become better humans.

Not to worry. In due time, the well that they dig for themselves with stubbornness, hatefulness, and inaction will be filled with that which they gave to this life.

© 2024 annalise fonza, Ph.D., MURP, M.Div., MPA

Updated 03/11/24