Have you ever wondered why some people treat you the way they do, some like you, some adore you and then some are just…weird. I saw a social media post that sparked this bulb in my head today.

Sometimes we walk into a new workplace simply as we are, authentic, raw and true to ourselves. Then we do everything by the book, we are professional, we are normal and we accept the tasks as they are and we act on the given instructions. Also, we socialize, we talk to our colleagues, share experiences and knowledge and most of them accept you as you are, your authentic self. But then there are one or two people who no matter what you do or say will just not like you. And it’s been like that since day 1. You feel that something is off, but you can’t really put your finger on it. They try to act normal, crack jokes and come out as chill, but something still keeps on bothering you. Intuition is like Hey girlie, so… I don’t like this.

If you are anything like me, you start asking yourself what you did wrong, what did you say, how did you act form the start, you keep digging and digging but there is nothing to uncover UNTIL it clicks: I’m making them so insecure. I bring out their deepest insecurities up and they can’t deal with it, instead they try to make me shrink, make me wonder am I really able to do this job, and make me ask myself stupid questions. And the worst of them all, they make me question my worth, my knowledge and my experience. Not just career experience but life experience too. This has been bothering me for years. It’s not something that came up just now when I switched companies, but this has been brewing and it has been bothering me for years.

This is not to brag about myself and inflate my own ego, but I think it’s a wonderful thing when you are aware of yourself and your worth. It’s wonderful when you are authentic and when you are being yourself. When you are not trying to perform, impress or manipulate. You are just you. And that makes some people very uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong, we all have insecurities, for me internal insecurity is that I always fear that I’m wasting my potential, I always wonder what could have been and what could be instead of making things better now and build the foundation for what I want to achieve. My external one relates to my physical appearance and even though I write about how harmful trends are, I am a victim of trends too. Especially fitness trends.

But being aware of my own fears, insecurities and setbacks still doesn’t make me mean towards other people, I would never harm anyone intentionally, I would never make someone feel small and horrible because, I like to lift people up. I might say a thing or two that maybe I shouldn’t, and I will overthink it forever, but why would I make someone feel small and irrelevant when instead I can make them motivated to be themselves, to go after what they want, to define what freedom is for them, and when I can share my experience to try to help them with their struggles?

I always want to ask these people what hurts you so much that you want to belittle other people? To me, and I’m sure to so many other authentic people out there, this is so strange and harmful and also something I will never ever understand. Same thing goes for snarky comments made by so called friends and colleagues. Like, if you want to compliment me just say so, there is no need to cover up an insult with a compliment. I think when you have a lot of internal power and energy, everyone is trying to shut it down because they are afraid to let their own light shine.

All this to say – I don’t care if you don’t like me, you can’t bring me down. I will shine even brighter, I will be even more myself, I will talk about everything you don’t know, I will talk about my travels so much, your ears will fall off, I will talk about books, concerts and the music you only know in theory. I will shine as bright as the Sun and the Full Moon, because you can’t hide from the light. I don’t need to shrink to accommodate your insecurities. I don’t want to make myself small, just so you can feel important. I don’t care. Work on yourself.

Once again: I don’t need to shrink myself to accommodate your insecurities.