Dear Permission to be Powerful Reader,

When someone treats you like dirt…

Do you pretend you didn’t notice?

All people-pleasers do it.

You may even smile and laugh…

Like you’re some joke.

I used to live like that.

Looking back, I see a professional doormat.

With my father, my ex, my colleagues.

I told myself:They made a mistake.They didn’t mean it.They’d do better next time.

I gave them the endless benefit of the doubt.

Because that was easier than seeing the truth.

If I acknowledged the truth… I’d have to do something about it.

So, whenever someone disrespected me, I would laugh it off…

And they spit in my face every time.

There’s a reason for this.

Because you’re teaching them that you’re FINE with disrespect.

This treatment is acceptable.

You deserve it.

(Otherwise, why would you accept it?)

I finally decided: if you cross me, you lose my goodwill.

I got this from a mentor who once said:

“I have your back—until you devalue me. Then you’re dead to me.”

No second chances.

Divorce gave me that same clarity.

No more hoping people would change.

No more praying to be seen someday…

It’s no longer optional to take me seriously.

I could finally see things as they were, not as I wanted them to be.

I wasn’t two steps behind anymore…

I was two steps ahead.

In life, you get what you tolerate.

And once you stop tolerating b******t, life gets WAY better.

The parasites scatter, and you realize how much energy you wasted trying to make everyone else feel comfortable at your expense.

Every laugh at a put-down is a debt you’ll pay later.

Here’s the rule I live by now:

* If you respect me, you get my loyalty.

* If you cross me, you’re dead to me.

Nothing in between.

That doesn’t make me cruel. It makes me clear.

Because boundaries aren’t about punishing other people. Boundaries are about refusing to self-destruct just to keep them comfortable.

Once you really see that, you can’t unsee it.

When you stop tolerating b******t, you find out who belongs in your life.

Those who respect your boundaries stick around…

The ones who lived off your people-pleasing fall away. Fast.

And when they’re gone, you realize you didn’t lose a thing. You just stopped feeding parasites.

Don’t smile through disrespect.

Don’t pretend betrayal didn’t happen.

Wipe that dumb grin off your face.

You don’t have to execute perfectly.

Just make sure that when someone f***s with you…

You don’t sit there and take it.

This is a recipe for learned helplessness.

The moment you stop tolerating b******t…

You take your power back.

Until next time,

Dancer, Writer, Buddhist.

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