If you haven't been sticking up for yourself, it can be daunting to figure out how to turn things around. You may feel hurt by other people, frequently. You may even be thinking this is somehow your fault. You may wonder why are people stepping all over you?
Is it time for you to get on your own team? Are you needing
some boundaries?
Boundaries can feel really hard to establish if you don’t
practice using them.
Sometimes you rob yourself
and won’t allow yourself to stand up for yourself when you need to.
We all know that wrenching feeling in our gut when we are
not standing up for ourselves.
What are boundary
violations?
When you are being treated badly, with rude behavior, you
notice. You are not being overly sensitive. In fact, when your feelings are
mocked, or discounted that way, it is a boundary violation.
Maybe you are being stepped on by someone who bullies you. Maybe you feel stepped
on by someone who tells you what you “should” feel, rather than listening to
how you actually do feel.
How to begin sticking
up for yourself
The best way to begin sticking up for yourself is giving
voice to your feelings. There are no wrong feelings. Feelings just are.
There are so many ways that we rob ourselves of permission.
When you don’t allow yourself to stick up for you, you send a message to yourself
that even you aren’t on your own team.
If you aren’t on your own team, who is?
There are lots of ways to stick up for yourself without being rude or mean to other people. There is nothing more soul robbing
than having someone else tell you what you “should” feel and how you “should”
behave.
No more soul robbing.
Speak Your Truth
If someone tells you how you “should” feel, stick up for
yourself by speaking your truth. You feel what you feel. It is important to
know how you feel. It is part of your wisdom. Feelings just are. Stick up for knowing what you feel and allowing
yourself to have your feelings.
Your feelings don’t have to be liked by anyone else. Though
it goes a long way to creating connection when someone cares about how you feel
and takes time to listen and get you.
Speak for Yourself
Boundaries get very
confusing when you speak for someone else. Only speak for yourself. Do not
allow others to speak for you. They can’t. Sticking up for yourself means you
will have the difficult and uncomfortable conversations, by saying what you
need to say, and not ask others to say it for you.
It Gets Easier
Sticking up for
yourself, and speaking your truth gets easier with practice. It is hard at first. Look for opportunities
to say things that you usually keep inside. You will not be able to
change people. But you can change you. You won’t feel stepped on or crushed by
others if you speak your truth. They may do the same behavior, they may try to step on you, but the big
difference is how you respond.
