A short and sweet dive into exploring our role as villains.
Because, let’s face it, we have all channeled our inner Regina George a time or two.

You would be lying if you denied this truth.

If you didn’t admit that at some point you were the villain in someone else’s story. That at some point you said something or did something that was offensive, unfriendly, unkind, or unwarranted. That at some point you didn’t say or do something out of spite, out of reaction, out of a temporary feeling.

Whether it was twenty years ago or two days ago, we have all stepped into a mean girl persona.
I’m not saying that because it happens that it’s acceptable or that we should (to keep with the trend) normalize it. But I am saying that it’s okay.

It’s okay that it happened.
It’s okay that you had a moment of weakness.
It’s okay that you acted out of character.

In the grand scheme of your life, it was but a mere page of a chapter of your entire memoir.
Let that shit go. Do not beat yourself up over it.

What’s important is that you correct it.

It’s important that you prevent it from happening again and again. What wouldn’t be okay, is if you continue to play that villain role. If you didn’t realize that those choices had consequences. If you didn’t realize that your decisions may very well have hurt someone.

I’ve blamed my villainous ways on external factors when really I should have recognized that I was letting the behaviors of others affect me negatively. Almost like an eye for an eye scenario. Knowing someone else had said things about me did not justify my loose lips. Even if I believed that at the time, it didn’t make my actions and behaviors right. I am ultimately responsible for what I do and what I say no matter what is done to me in turn. I should have set boundaries and discussed the issues before I let them change me in those situations. But that was all after the fact, that was after the damage was done that I realized these things.

With time comes knowledge, insight, growth, and accountability.

However, that doesn’t mean the sentiment will be reciprocated. Because the reality is that it can take time to see where the breakdown started and by the time you analyze the situation it may be too late. Not everyone is willing to move on and not all relationships are meant to continue.

Part of playing a villain is also accepting that you may very well always look like the villain to a person you were essentially fighting against. Just because you left that role behind and you put down your weapons, doesn’t mean the battle will be forgotten altogether. Your rate of growth doesn’t equate to someone else’s rate of growth. Whether you believe grudges are immature or not, sometimes you just can’t convince them.

What happened, happened.

Don’t try to repair those burned bridges, they likely would have been torched regardless. All you did was add some accelerant, but chances are the other person may have lit the match. One-sided relationships are out girl, finding peace is in. Your job was to work on yourself, to correct the villainous behavior. Your job is not to change their mind. Because at the end of the day, what matters is what you think of yourself. At the end of the day, you are a kickass superhero who made some mistakes along the way. I mean you’re superpower isn’t perfection, it’s humility.

Til next time,