*From The Archive* On Dealing with Someone Who’s Hurt You 3/13/2018

Give yourself permission to accept the olive branch.

You also have permission to throw it on the fire.

Give yourself permission to trust them.

You also have permission to never trust them again.

If you invite them to have a conversation and they respond with silence, you have permission to permanently rescind all invitations.

What they say they’re going to do doesn’t matter.

What matters is what they do.

And if they say something and don’t do it, that’s okay. Just know to watch for what they do, without giving so much weight to their words.

Give yourself permission to love them with all your heart, knowing you can do that from really fucking far away.

You also have permission to be gentle with your heart, and give it what it wants. Even if that means you must stay.

You get to decide what you are willing to put up with.

You get to change your mind.

You don’t need them.

It might seem like you do, but I promise you don’t. You’ll be okay, even if you’re not okay.

Really, if you remember nothing else in life, just know that it’s okay that it’s not okay.

Even if you don’t see it, you are powerful beyond measure. You get to choose how you are in the world.