Which relationship has taught you the most about yourself?
View all responses
Author: Kamika Manning
Some relationships teach you through love.
Some teach you through disappointment.
And some teach you things about yourself that you probably wouldn’t have discovered any other way.
The relationship that taught me the most about myself wasn’t necessarily the easiest one. In fact, some of the hardest relationships can become our greatest teachers.
I learned that being there for someone doesn’t mean losing myself in the process.
I learned that having a big heart doesn’t mean I have to accept everything.
I learned that boundaries aren’t walls. They’re a way of saying, this is how I expect to be treated.
I also learned that I don’t have to keep explaining myself to people who have already decided not to understand me.
Sometimes we outgrow people.
Sometimes we outgrow situations.
And sometimes we simply outgrow the version of ourselves that was willing to tolerate things we wouldn’t tolerate today.
That doesn’t mean every difficult relationship was a mistake.
It means I can take the lesson without carrying the weight forever.
I’ve learned more about my strength, my patience, my limits and my voice through relationships than I ever could have learned by simply being alone.
And perhaps the biggest lesson?
I don’t have to abandon myself to keep a relationship.
The right relationships should leave room for me to be me.
Not smaller.
Not quieter.
Not constantly second-guessing myself.
Just me.
Still learning.
Still growing.
Still becoming.
And that’s something I’m grateful for.
What relationship taught you the most about yourself?
This podcast episode speaks to this post in a potent manner.
Listento The Poetic Lift podcast here.
Leave a Reply