People should come with a warning label...CAUTION: Flammable when hot. May cause a burning sensation.*
I love people...period. Some would call me...co-dependent. I call it...deeply caring for mankind. Who am I kidding? I would take a bullet for another person. I'd give my last crust of bread to a fellow in need. "If your friends all jumped off of a bridge, would you?"
Yes...I would.
I went to the beach two days in a row and laid out with friends...and of course conveniently left my sunscreen at home. And as a consequence, got sun burnt. Surprise!
After a sleepless night, due in part to a conflict with my roommate and also to sun burnt armpits (yes, even my armpits were burnt) I came to the realization...co-dependency is synonymous to sunburn.
1.If you don't wear sunscreen, you gonna get fried!
*If you remain in a poor relationship too long and do not use appropriate boundaries, you will get burned.*
2. Repeated burns from the sun will cause melanoma
*Abusive relationships (whether it be physical, emotional, or sexual) create long-lasting consequences.*
3. Working rigorously in the sun too long WILL make you sick and tired.
*Toxic people infiltrate your mind and cause you pain. Doing everything for them, all the time, disregarding your own needs and wants will slowly kill you.*
4. After realizing the extent of the sun damage, you must apply aloe vera continuously. Every hour on the hour. And in order to treat your sun burnt back, you are going to have to ask for help. Which is weird and awkward. Because who wants to ask someone to smother you in lotion? Not me...But in order to prevent peeling and momentarily feel relief from the flames your body is surely emitting...it must be done.
*After taking care of others for so long and catering to their needs only, it is hard to break out of this cycle. One must practice taking care of their own needs continually. It will be hard and you will feel selfish.*
5. Wishing you HAD worn sunscreen wont change the fact that you are sun burnt
*Worrying profusely about others, trying to control them and give them unwarranted advice, losing sleep over their problems, and wishing you could fix everything for them and comparing what you should have said or did with what you did say or do will not create world peace.
6. As your sunburn begins to fade, your skin will shed away the dead flesh you burnt the shiz out of...Its gross and flaky...but hey, progress! Not perfection!!!!)
*As you start to heal and take care of yourself first, and then others (in a non codependent way) the layers of your true self will begin to become exposed.
So take it from me...Whether you are hitting the beach with a friend...or worrying constantly about them...use sunscreen...and your voice...Set up an umbrella...and boundaries. Bring water to quench your thirst, and take (YOU) time to satiate your needs as well.
And with that, my friends, I'm off to bathe myself in aloe...
Deuces~
Winter Grace
