Why You Should Be Gentle With People

I don't know your life. You don't know mine.

Socially Awkward

PAST: I could not talk to guys my own age for a majority of high school.

CAUSE: I was sexually abused by a male that I trusted as a kid.

Commitment Issues

PAST: I struggled to learn that my feelings matter in a relationship.

CAUSE: My first emotionally abusive relationships taught me that a girl's feelings always mattered more than mine.

Insecure

PAST: I hated taking my shirt off and felt awkward being the "skinny one" at the pool.

CAUSE: Magazines and movies taught me that I need muscles to be attractive growing up.

Antisocial

PAST: I had no interest in making new friends or dating new people.

CAUSE: I lost many friends and partners because I was told my health was "too difficult to deal with."

NOW: I am a much different person now than I was then. I now know my feelings matter, I now judge myself based on who I AM instead of my body, and I now have friends and a partner who listen to me and understand me for who I am. I would have never grown from these experiences if I didn't meet people who listened to my story and my experiences rather than judged the person that they met.

BOTTOM LINE: No matter how much you know someone, you don't know their entire life. Be gentle with people and be kind to people. They may need it more than you know.