Is it Okay to be OA?

   Have you ever been told you're overreacting or do you often ask yourself "Am I just being too sensitive?" over some situation? Me as well. 

 And sometimes, I tend to think the same to other people. 

But when we can say that someone is just overreacting or overly sensitive? Comparing, I guess. We may think that if you were in their situation, you won't react like how they react. But that's the case, you're not in their situation...You don't feel what they felt. 

(Storytime) 😂

Back then, I have this classmate, she is kind and sweet but sometimes, I don't want to talk to her because "simple things" hurt her feelings. I tried to observe her behavior but no matter how I think about it I just always thought "OA nya naman, para yun lang umiyak na" but when I experienced it myself, I felt bad. Because now I finally understand her. 

Who am I to tell her what she should feel? 

Who am I to think that what she felt was wrong? 

Who am I to invalidate her emotions? 

We don't have the same personal histories and of course, it influences how we respond to situations. Each and every one of us has our own unique way to manage our feelings and processing our emotions; "Little things" for you might not be little things for them and vice versa. We all have to understand that. 

When we invalidate someone it means you don't understand them, or if you do, you just don't care.

I realize that I can't understand someone until I walk into their shoes. 

 There are times that I got in to fight because when i finally have the courage to finally speak what was bothering me, instead of receiving an apology, they find a way to make me feel bad and it leave me felt worse than i felt before. So I regret even saying anything. I became fearful of opening up again. 

Don't let anyone decide what you should feel. It's your own body after all. 

I'm learning not to invalidate my own feelings, but also not share them with others as long as I can. I would rather die of loneliness and anxiety than sharing my feelings with someone that will invalidate my feelings. No one lives in my body but ME. If there is someone who has to understand me. THAT SHOULD BE ME. (JB) 😂

Treat yourself like how you would treat someone that you love. When you love someone you protect them from the pain, you don’t become the cause of it. It's not your fault if you don't know what's happening inside your body. What you felt, is what you felt. Just because someone is telling you that you're feeling is inappropriate to that situation, doesn't mean it's wrong to feel that way. Emotions are inevitable, and you're allowed to feel whatever. We are all humans. 

May you not be a reason  why someone is thinking that there is something wrong with her just because she don't respond the way you expected. Life is hard especially nowadays, we are facing our own giants so

Be Kind. Tomorrow is not promised. Words hurt more than knife can do. If she says she's hurt. She is. Acknowledge, Listen and Love. 

...and oh, Yes I think it's Okay to be OA. You're fine. There's nothing wrong with you. 😉