I don’t owe you any of my thoughts.

I, like many of my peers, have had toxic people in our lives. Even though those people are gone, we continue to give them time and attention. We are precious people, and our time and attention are finite resources that, especially at this time in our lives, is precious.

Toxicity from people we have loved is a paralyzing thing, even when we don’t realize it. Time, attention, and thoughts that could be focused on school, family, friends, and ourselves is lost in a haze of memories and wonders of what could have been.

These people, though they are physically gone, continue to paralyze us by hijacking attention that should be used for our current love and enjoyment within our present lives. People always say to “let go” and forget… but we can’t always do that.

It is even harder when those people are still around.. not necessarily in your life, but on your campus, in your town, or even living in your home. What are we to do, when at every break, holiday or weekend off, we are faced with our worst nightmares?

What are we to do when we’re finally getting better and making progress and even starting to enjoy life and we see that trigger?

I still don’t know, and I may never know. What I do know, however, is that I do not owe them any of my thoughts.. and neither do you. You are precious. You are loved. You are beautiful. You owe it to yourself to make the absolute best of your time that you can. You deserve to have a clear head and happiness. You owe it to your past self to shed the skin of memories that is holding you back.

Your time, thoughts and attention are yours to give to the people you wish. These things from you are a blessing, and you do not owe them to anyone.

No, people, places and memories.. We do not owe you any of our thoughts.