If you’re like me then you’re one of those types of people who are sassy and sarcastic, always trying to put a smile on people’s faces and you try to be the best friend you can be for every person who’s in your life, close friend or otherwise, and you try to be as honest as you can be. You let people in, you trust them and you put your heart on the line more often than you should and sometimes that brings loving people who take advantage because they’re empty or lonely, or just bored. When you attract those types of people, you can often find yourself in a compromising position mainly because you’re compromising your true self. You aren’t allowed to speak your mind, voice your feelings, and let that person know when they’ve crossed a line. For the most part, you find yourself walking on eggshells for people who walk over you. As my 20th birthday rolls around, however, it’s made me see a new, yet simple light: eggshells are not made to walk on.
They say that you attract what you see and feel about yourself, so if you’re lonely, you’ll attract lonely people. I don’t know if that’s entirely true though, because if you’re the type of person who wants to help everyone, who makes time for every person in your life and is the go-to for people to call when they need someone to lean on, it’s often that some damaged or broken soul comes along, looking for someone to fix them. At least, that’s what I’ve seen, but even if those people are damaged, they play the part of damaged even better. For the most part, they know that you’ll be there whenever they need you. They know that if they were to walk out of your life for whatever reason, you’d be waiting for them with open arms for their return. It’s those type of people who take advantage, and when you finally start to see it and put your foot down about it, they start to morph you into the bad guy. They may tell you that they’ve been having a rough week, they may tell you that they’ve been depressed or that they’ve been hurting themselves, things that are too serious to even question. Because of that, you swallow how small you feel and you stay, because you’re a good person, and you love this broken soul and want to help. You continue to walk on eggshells, dodging telling them how you truly feel, dodging certain conversations because you know it’ll end badly. The eggshells get harder and harder to walk on, but you keep going until eventually, you feel as if you’re going insane. You notice that you’re getting more tired and agitated and your body feels physically drained. You realize that the excitement you used to have about seeing that person has morphed into an anxiety.
Then you come to a realization one day, or maybe a string of days that helps you build the courage to let go. You no longer want to walk on eggshells for this person, whether it be a family member, a friend, or a significant other. You want your freedom to be the person that you are, unapologetically, and to not compromise your values to make another person feel comfortable, especially when they haven’t gone out of their way to make sure that you’re comfortable too. In my twenty years, I’ve finally realized that eggshells are not made to walk on. The people that truly love you and care about your well-being would not put you in a position where you had to. People that truly love you would make you feel comfortable in your own skin, and wouldn’t make you feel small for having feelings that disagree with theirs. All in all, I’d rather surround myself with people who help me rock a killer pair of heels than force me to cut up my feet and soul for them.
