The moment I knew the abuse was bigger than our relationship.

If somebody who's mentally abusing you tells you that nobody's going to believe you, you better listen. You better run. Them, and you better run. My ex-fiance looked at me and told me that nobody's going to believe you, something clicked. Because people don't usually say that unless they believe they already shed the narrative. Whether that's through manipulation or controlling the story, they are counting on their version being believed before you even speak. And looking back now, I realized that that wasn't just a threat. It was a warning. And guess what? He was right. When I finally spoke up, nobody believed me. I was crazy. And they probably still do. Some people distance themselves, others treating me like I was most of them lost my mind. And that's when I realized that I couldn't just leave the relationship. Nope. I had to cut off every single person and environment that was connected to it. Even the cats and the dogs. Even the pets had to go. Because if people are committed to the version of you that they've been told, baby, your truth may never make sense to them. One thing I learned and realized is that psychological abuse usually extends far beyond two people. Sometimes it changes how the entire community that's being targeted. History has shown us over and over that when enough people accept the story without questioning it, innocent people literally become isolated, discredited, and treated as though they're the danger. Yeah, it's all part of the game. This is why one of the most powerful forms of control is not physical. It's actually controlling the narrative. This is why patriarchy taught women not to speak up. They're depending on you not speaking up so they could control your narrative. But here's what healing taught me. Anyone who has to isolate you, discredit you, or, you know, convince people that you're crazy to maintain control is somebody who is afraid of your power. And you got to know, they were never building for love. They were building for dependency. And if speaking your truth makes you lose access to people you did not lose, people who were never for you in the first place. This is why I tell people, stop listening to words and pay attention to those patterns. Because people actually telling themselves all the time.