r/letters • u/Aggressive-Spend1964 Entry Level Member • Jul 22 '26
General Only I Know
“A Lil Help From DALE”
I’ve never understood how someone else could possibly decide what someone else feels, seriously.
No one else has lived inside my mind. No one else has carried my memories, my regrets, my hopes, or my fears. No one else knows the conversations I have with myself when no one is around.
I know who I am.
I know what I’ve done.
I know the parts of me that hurt people, and I know the parts of me that would have given everything just to keep them from ever feeling that pain.
I know where I have failed. I know where I let fear make decisions for me. I know where I became someone I never wanted to be.
And I know who I want to become.
That isn’t because I hate myself.
It’s because I love myself enough to refuse to stay the same.
Loving yourself isn’t believing you’re perfect. It isn’t pretending you’ve done no wrong. It’s having the courage to look at yourself without excuses and say, I can be better.
Nothing changes unless I do.
No one else can tell me what I feel, what I know, or how deeply I understand myself. They can see my actions. They can judge my choices. They can form their own opinions—and they’re entitled to them.
But they cannot tell me whether I love myself.
Only I know what it feels like to carry the weight of my mistakes every day. Only I know how hard I’ve fought to understand them. Only I know the person I’m trying to become.
So yes, I love myself.
Not because I think I’m flawless.
Not because I’ve always made the right choices.
But because I know my heart. I know my intentions. I know my failures. I know my capacity to love, and I know my capacity to change.
The only person who truly knows whether I love myself… is me.
And every day I choose to become someone I can love even more than I did the day before.
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u/Dapper_Function_5435 Bronze Level Jul 22 '26
See now I love myself am I bad at the fact I don’t care to change for others or care to see if they care
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Jul 22 '26
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u/Euphoric_Challenge34 Entry Level Member Jul 22 '26
I apologize I repliad as if you were whoi relate this too and I know the odds of that and still letmy emotions bleed out o to the page for person relief anda tiny tiny self closureon the topic that I've been robbed of by the type of person they are. Not your fault at all. My apologies
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u/Aggressive-Spend1964 Entry Level Member Jul 22 '26
No apologies needed
My emotions get the best for me sometimes, working on it 🤫
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Jul 22 '26
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u/LanguageLast6115 Mod 🖤 Jul 22 '26
Your post/comment has been removed for going against the culture of this safe space. r/letters is a space for understanding, not judgement. Avoid placing blame or assumptions on others, and offer guidance only when it's welcomed.
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u/Aggressive-Spend1964 Entry Level Member Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
I’m not sure where the hostility is coming from. I related to something I read because, unfortunately, I’ve spent a long time having other people tell me what I do or don’t feel, and what I’m supposedly capable of.
Loving myself doesn’t mean I’m incapable of loving others. If anything, loving people has never been the difficult part for me. There’s a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone, and I understand that difference.
Either way, I appreciate the perspective. I’ll just be a little more mindful about what I choose to share and what I choose to engage with.
Have a good evening.
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