“Dear Family of Origin; It's time for me to be honest with you all. Straight talk time,…”

Dear Family of Origin; It's time for me to be honest with you all. Straight talk time, kids. I've made a habit for far too long of allowing your words to be the running narrative of my life. In my darkest moments, it was your voices I heard: selfish, liar, dreamer, unrealistic, impractical. It bothered you that I was not more like you. Or more like how you 'thought' you were. What I want to tell you is this: leaving you all was the best decision I ever made. I have evolved light years beyond you & I could never have done so had I stayed in your dysfunctional orbit & allowed you to continue to define me by the limiting narrative you use to define yourselves, each other & your lives. You have lied to me, betrayed me, abandoned me in my times of need & still managed to make it all about you and your needs. That is the definition of selfish. Period. I see now your words were meant to shame me into acting against my own best interests in order to satiate your needs and petty desires. I also see that whilst I cared about you, you had no interest in reciprocating. You just took and then gaslit and guilt tripped me so you could continue to use me. You couldn't be bothered to understand or support me but expected that from me with no apologies. I'm not hard to love. Nor hard to know or understand. You just never cared enough to bother. There are people I have in my life that love me with ease and great joy. They accept me. Let me also say that I am kind, smart, funny and courageous. Others have seen this in me & I have seen it in me. So the fact that you couldn't means the failing is yours, not mine. Anyway, the time for you to be in life is over now. As 2021 ends, I have decided that I don't need your approval anymore. I have another loving family now who are supportive and caring. So this is goodbye. I will move on with my life and I won't look back. Consider this our closure. Peace.