I’ve touched on this subject before, but it still seems as present, possibly even more now. People will so easily tear you down, they may not mean to, but they can get in your head and make you begin to overthink every single life decision you have ever made.

It is easy to get caught up in what they say, because they could be some of the people you hold closest. But there comes a point where you have to stand up for yourself. You have to be able to say, you know what, these people may be thinking they are helping, but they are actually hurting me.

I hit this point, well it actually hit me, like a ton of bricks. A little bit of backstory… I am at a very good point in life, where everyone and everything I care about are all starting to line up. I am so joyful and genuinely enjoying life, ever single minute of it. But there is one tiny detail in which people keep getting caught up in, and it is messing with my head big time. I feel bombarded with people’s opinions when they were never asked for in the first place.

I got home the other day from having an intense conversation with one of my friends. When I sat down on the couch, I began to rant, a lot. I did not understand how so many people who really do not know my story at all could have such a large impact on my happiness when they were nowhere near the situation itself. 

As I began to calm down, I went downstairs to have dinner, and that’s when it hit me. I didn’t care what others thought about me. Or maybe it wasn’t that I didn’t care, but that I don’t need to care anymore. People are going to think all kinds of things about you, and you cannot control what they do. This is when I realized, I do not need people’s opinions in my life when all they are going to do is criticize me for things they don’t know about. Because honestly, no one knows what the future holds, so why do they think they deserve to tell me what is going to happen in my life?

I have learned you cannot control people’s emotions or judgements, and that is something you just have to accept. But I have also learned that I will not accept people judging my life decisions based off the sliver of knowledge they know about it. I will continue to live my life and keep doing what makes me happy, because being joyful is one of the best feelings I have experienced thus far in life.

So, to the girl who needs to stop caring about what others think, I know it is harder said than done. But, at the end of the day, your happiness should always be your first priority. If there are negatives in your life, try to switch them out for positives. The only way you can truly grow and learn who you are is when you have completely accepted yourself and given up on impressing everyone else. We were put on this Earth to love ourselves and each other, and maybe we should start doing that a little more.