An Open Letter to Those who Ruined My Life

They say that no one can ruin your life, that you’re responsible for your own destiny, that no one can get you down. They’re wrong. Because you ruined my life.

You threw me under the bus for mistakes you made.

You treated others badly, then passed the buck to me.

You made up stories about me and encouraged people to gossip along with you.

You spread lies about me, then turned the tables and said I was slandering you when I protested.

You identified what I cared about, shredded it, and threw it in my face.

You lied to me. Constantly.

It still hurts. Do you know that? I see you, I see a picture of you, I hear some more mistaken soul — your next victim, perhaps — singing your praises, and it’s like the knife has struck my back again.

The good news is, you no longer have any interest in hurting me. The bad news is, I’m still hurt by what you did. It seeps into every part of your life when someone smears you. It sticks little barbs into your entire being when someone betrays you. It ruined my life.

I’ll get back up, of course. My life won’t be ruined forever.

Unlike you, I live my life with the goal of happiness and fulfillment through connection and passion, while your only source of joy is to hurt other people.

Unlike you, I am strong and still know who I am, while your identity is manufactured by what you see in the media.

Unlike you, I am kind and compassionate, while you let your insecurities dictate your treatment of others.

Unlike you, I know I was on the right side of things, while you were in the wrong.

And unlike you, I’m going to get past all this and have an awesome life, while you’re going to continue being a pathetic excuse for a human whose greatest life accomplishment was once ruining someone’s life for a short amount of time.