Dear Sweet Aja,
It’s okay to say No. Yes, I know that you were taught to put others before yourself and because of that you make sure that everyone is taken care of, but what about you? Who’s taking care of you? Mom gave you a sandwich for school so you can eat, not for your friends to eat and you to starve. Dad gave you those $10 so you could just have something in your pocket, not for you to loan it to someone you knew wasn’t going to pay it back. I’m not telling you it’s not good to be a selfless person and want to help every chance you get, but you can’t help everyone, just leave that to GOD. No wonder you’re so exhausted all the time. I know, I know you don’t want to upset anyone, but honey it is truly impossible to please and satisfy everyone you encounter, so stop it. I hope your “friends” that you are financing and feeding are this passionate about you in a few years… they aren’t, you won’t even talk to them anymore. Sometimes you have to think about yourself before others. Not in a conceited way, but for protective reasons because soon you’ll learn that most people are just for themselves and will use your kindness for weakness. It will start to affect you and make you want to be like them, to be all about yourself only because you don’t know how else to handle it, so to help with that I am telling you now, If you don’t want to loan any money then Say NO, if you don’t want to share your food then say NO, if you don’t want to hang out then Say NO and if people get mad don’t stress over that because they will build a bridge and get over it. You’re extremely stubborn, so I know you aren’t going to really listen, but trust in a few years you’d wish you had.
Much love,
AB