Petty and Proud

I’ve seen some things in my life that have really pissed me off.

One time in high school, a kid made fun of my sister’s lazy, had-multiple-surgeries, eye. A girl snapped at me, for absolutely no reason. There was that time a ‘friend’ completely disrespected me. And let’s not forget the girl who tried flirting with my husband relentlessly. Or, the multiple  times I was made to feel ‘less than’ or dumb.

Do you know what alllllll these things have in common?

They pissed me off, and created a pettiness in me.

A full on, hold a grudge for 20+ years, never gonna forget it pettiness.

The kind of pettiness that, while on my deathbed, I will likely bring up:

*Coughs. Gives my girls hugs, while whispering, ‘Don’t let your kids have play dates at so-and-so’s- their mom is the worst!’*

Can you imagine?!

I’m joking. (Maybe.)

Now if you’re still following along, and you can relate, keep reading. There’s a lesson.

(And if I lost you a long time ago, and you think I’m ridiculous? Congratulations, you probably have boundaries.)

I’m willing to bet that you struggle with boundaries and/or people pleasing.

I know for a fact that I do, and always have.

Somewhere along the way, we learned that the only way to set boundaries is if someone does us wrong. Like, obvious wrong.

When this happens, the anger sets in… and we run with it.

We set that new boundary HARD.

Brick wall hard.

Take it to the grave hard.

At this point in my life, I’m not sorry. I know why I do this. I don’t consider myself a bitter and unforgiving cow.

I consider myself a girl who has put everyone else’s opinions and thoughts over her own, and is learning to use anger as a tool to change that.

(At the risk of sounding like an @$$hole, I’d even go as far as to say that I’m proud of myself for feeling that anger, and not rolling over to take another hit.)

The more we can set boundaries in our everyday life, the less likely it is that we’ll go SO hard when we inevitably get mistreated.

So long story short: Go ahead and be petty and hold that grudge, if it means you’re learning to hold your boundaries. (The forgiveness part can come later.)

Because having and holding boundaries is Luxuriously Dope. 🖤