There is a strange kind of helplessness that comes when you realize there may be a story about you that you don’t get to tell.
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Maybe you don’t know exactly what was said. You may only notice that people are treating you differently. Someone who used to talk to you doesn’t anymore.
Someone who once seemed comfortable around you suddenly seems distant. And you may find yourself wondering what they heard or what they believe.
Your first instinct may be to explain yourself.
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You want people to know what really happened. You want them to understand your side. But sometimes explaining yourself only pulls you back into a situation you were already trying to leave.
Especially when people have already decided what they believe.
There may be nothing you can say that will make them reconsider the story they’ve heard. And as painful as that is, you can’t control what other people think about you.
You can be honest about your own actions. You can apologize when you’ve done something wrong. You can tell your story when there is a reason and a safe place to do that.
But you don’t have to spend your life correcting every misunderstanding.
Sometimes you have to accept that there will be people who don’t know the whole story.
There will be people who believe things about you that aren’t true.
And there will be people who choose someone else’s version of you without ever asking for yours.
That hurts.
But their version of you doesn’t have to become your version of yourself.
You know your story. God knows your story. And you can keep walking.
Listen to Episode 25: “Learning to Live After Everything Fell Apart.”