If you’ve repeatedly had your reality shut down and your feelings dismissed, you may find that you continue to try to prove yourself and your credibility. Sometimes, this manifests as a tendency to over-explain.⁣⁣ ⁣ Do you ever find yourself insisting on getting your point across? Perhaps you continue to repeat points to justify your case or use more words and details than necessary when explaining what you mean. Or, maybe you find yourself beating a dead horse when someone is clearly choosing to misunderstand you. You feel that they must believe you, agree with you and validate your truth to feel a sense of security.⁣⁣ ⁣ The more you talk to people who don’t listen to you, the more you devalue what you have to say. Not everyone will be interested, invested, or available to you. Becoming aware of and accepting that you’re exerting too much energy into a conversation is the first step to honouring the importance of your words.⁣⁣ ⁣ As mentioned above, this powerful urge to be understood can stem from a fear of rejection or abandonment. Your mind believes that if the person could truly hear and feel what it is you’re trying to say, then they would get it...they would get you...and you’d be safe.⁣⁣ ⁣ The thing is, you are already safe. And instead of seeking that external validation, slow down, pull back your energy and remind yourself, “I accept that they aren’t listening, and I respect myself enough to stop forcing my message.”⁣⁣ ⁣ Never, ever stop speaking your truth (kindly, of course). Just choose your audience wisely – because you’re worth it.⁣⁣ ⁣ A note on trauma: we all experience events and situations in different ways. Trauma is more about what happens inside of you (or doesn’t happen) due to what happened to you (or didn’t happen). For ideas on emotional healing, please refer to my book, Healing is the New High.⁣⁣ ⁣ #VexKing