Series 18: The Life You Refuse to Dim

You were never too much, they simply didn’t know what to do with all of you

A gentle yet unmistakable dismissal that doesn’t come with harsh words or obvious exclusion but comes in the way people shift when you speak from your whole self, the way their expressions tighten when your presence takes up more space than they are comfortable with. It is the unspoken suggestion that you lower your voice, soften your opinions, shrink your excitement, or dilute your truth. After enough of these moments, you start to wonder if maybe you are too much.

You were never too much. You were only more than some people knew how to handle. Your depth, your fire, your way of seeing the world, these were not flaws, they were simply beyond the capacity of certain rooms to hold, and that is not a reason to dim yourself. It is a reason to find rooms that have the space, the strength, and the will to let you exist in your fullness.

When you have been told, directly or indirectly, to take up less space, you learn to ration yourself. You measure your words, hold back your emotions, filter your joy, and offer only the safest, most acceptable version of who you are. But in doing so, you begin to disappear, piece by piece, until you are unrecognizable even to yourself. This is how self-betrayal begins with the slow, habitual decision to be less than you are.

Choosing to no longer dim yourself is the act of honoring the life you have been given. It is refusing to apologize for being the sum of your passions, your convictions, your flaws, and your strengths. The world does not need another muted echo of what is already common. It needs the sharp, clear note of a life lived in truth.

Some will still find you overwhelming, some will misread your energy as pride, your passion as aggression, and your confidence as threat, but the ones who can meet you in your wholeness will not ask you to ration yourself. They will see your expansiveness as an invitation, not a warning. They will make room for the conversations that go deeper, for the laughter that comes louder, and for the honesty that cuts through the surface.

You do not need to contort yourself to be palatable to those who lack the appetite for who you are. You do not need to sand down your edges to fit into spaces that were never meant for you. What you need, what you deserve is to stand as yourself, unaltered, in the full light of your being.

You were never too much, and the sooner you stop believing that lie, the sooner you will find the places, the people, and the life that not only accepts your fullness but celebrates it.

 

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