I finally have managed to peel back most of the layers the world told me I needed to wear, either because it was cold…or raining…or the sun was too hot, and I needed to protect myself from them all. As a result of taking on these burdensome and heavy layers, I was unable to feel the coolness of the winds of life. They kept from the experiencing the cathartic beauty of a cleansing rain to my soul. They thwarted any attempt of my inner sun to provide me with warmth, to dry my tears or to paint my face with a shine that only comes from basking beneath its rays.

I have at last succeeded in ditching the weights the world told me to carry either because they are my personal burden to bear, or because I am (for some reason) expected to bear those of others around me. As a result, I have been delayed in arriving at the destination of becoming who I have always been meant to be. But now that I have arrived, I shall neither accept nor carry weights offered to me either through guilt or coercion.

The simplicity that is the true me has been hidden under cloaks of denial of self, and blankets of trying to be that which I am not. It has been weighted with rocks of making others comfortable with me, and bricks of accommodating the beliefs of others to my detriment.

I won’t ever be able to go back to the place where I was not comfortable being myself with EVERYONE in my life. Once I was relieved of the burden of presenting myself (at least part of the time) to others in a way that made them feel comfortable, I became free. And one thing about freedom: once you get a taste…you crave seconds, thirds…and an unlimited supply thereof.