Fair Warning

But why do we feel that we need to give a warning? Why isn't it okay to be real, to express our genuine self and our genuine emotion? Who benefits from the pretending? Who gains by lies of omission when we say we are "Fine" and who is bettered by silencing the protests of one's own soul? Why is someone's (or multiple someones') opinions more correct or right than our own? Why do we need to change because of what we think another person (or people) will think? Consider that for a moment: we change/stifle/smother/redirect/and rewrite our own emotions, thoughts, inclinations, behaviors, and actions based on what we THINK another person MIGHT THINK. We don't even know how they will react, but we rewrite the script for our own life for an audience that likely does not even exist or that won't even care if they do happen to witness the show. And we twist and bend and torment ourselves in order to fit into our concept of what someone else thinks about us and how they react. It blows my mind. And I fall prey to it every day.