I grew up so sheltered that when I was younger I didn’t understand the concept of disliking someone for ‘no reason’. I assumed some had to do something bad to not be liked. So whenever someone didn’t like me I always tried to figure out what I did wrong to make them not like me.

I remember always feeling like I wish someone would just explain “the rules” to me. I used to feel so lost and confused about social interactions. And never really understand why certain people behaved the way they did.

At some point, I stopped focusing so much on everyone else and stopped worrying about trying to figure out who liked me. I starting focusing on trying to figure myself out and worrying about if I liked me. And everything else just sort of faded into the background.

Life became really sweet when I started focusing inward. People will tell you it’s selfish or narcissistic to focus so much on yourself. Because most are operating on the level of the false self. But when you truly meet you, it’s something else entirely.