My brother-in-law is good people. Last night he said (and I'm paraphrasing here), "If you saw your friend getting beaten up, would you just stand there and not do anything about it? No. Then why are you treating yourself that way?" That is right on. Why is my first impulse to try and figure out what is wrong with ME? Why do I continue to believe someone else's criticisms of me, when I've always known that they were bullshit?

I need to be kind to myself. Like I was my best friend. It's sad that I have to remind myself to do such things, but there it is. When I take a step back, it's totally obvious that I've done the right thing and will be much better in the end for it.

Things are looking much brighter and calmer today. Thanks for reading and continuing to care about me, your cyber-web-friend.