The Courage to Be Disliked

Some people will dislike the healthier version of you.

They preferred you when you answered immediately, volunteered automatically, laughed off the insult, or accepted the plan without asking questions.

Growth changes other people's experience of us. That is inconvenient, but inconvenience is not injury.

You can be kind and still disappoint someone. You can explain yourself clearly and still be misunderstood. You can make the right decision and still become the villain in a story told in a room you never enter.

This is difficult for anyone who has built an identity around being reasonable.

But being universally approved of requires a remarkable amount of self-editing.

Do your best to be fair. Repair what you genuinely damage. Remain curious about criticism.

Then allow other adults to have opinions you do not manage.

Freedom sometimes arrives disguised as somebody not liking you anymore.