Furiously Bri

First off, I want to say happy holidays to those who are having a great time this year! I wish you all the best and that the new year brings you even more joy and excitement as you achieve any goals you may have set for yourself.

Christmas is hard this year because I keep getting reminded this time of year how I feel this need to be perfect for other people and abide by their expectations and how to treat them, yet when I ask to have that reciprocated and want to be treated kindly, it’s an insult and I should just get over it because I’m disrespecting some elder. I do not exist to please people and I do not exist to meet every single person’s expectations and laundry list of personal rules to make them extensively happy. I am my own individual being and it’s okay not to tick every box on your list. I never expect people to tick boxes on mine, but I do at least require people to be kind and understanding of people who are different than them as long as those people are not mentally, physically, or emotionally harmful to others. I am tired of trying to reach for that goalpost with people only to be met with pain and disappointment because it moved right before I could touch it. I should not have to empty my cup to fill another’s only to find out there’s a hole in the bottom of theirs.

If this is how you feel this year, remember that you have to fill your cup before anyone else’s and you deserve to be treated with kindness and understanding when you express this need to them. Remember that you cannot meet or exceed everyone’s expectations. All you can do is continue to be open-minded and willing to learn to keep being a better person and put in the effort where you can to grow and thrive in a sometimes debilitating world.

I wish you the happiest of holidays and hope you know that you are important and that you belong. Please remember that it’s okay to be sad and frustrated on this day and that you can feel your feelings and approach your inner-self with kindness. Drink some water and do what you need to just to get through today.