When people talk about us behind our backs, it’s hardly ever good, right? It’s almost always a dig, a judgment, or a memory twisted into something cruel.
So when she heard them talking, and it wasn’t mean, or pitying, or backhanded, it broke her in a different way. Because after everything she’s been through, kindness wasn’t the thing she expected.
Throughout the last four years, this woman has had a rough go of it. Sadly, she suffered from an injury that left her permanently disabled, and then she was diagnosed with a brain disorder.
The disability, coupled with the disorder, caused her to gain a ton of weight and lose a bunch of money. She was forced to move back home with her parents, even though she’s getting close to 30.
“I could go on. My sense of self was in the toilet. I felt gross. I looked gross. I can’t do the [things] I used to be able to do. I started therapy because of it,” she explained.
“Anyways, this year I started really focusing on trying to change things, now that I have some freedom to do so. I might be able to move out soon. I’ve lost 30 pounds since January (and hopefully more), I got my license back, so I’m able to drive, and I got a new job.”
“I love my new job. It sucks, and it’s not a career, and I most likely won’t be here for more than a year, but the people are great. I don’t dislike or even feel neutral about a coworker.”
If she does have a terrible day, her coworkers make it all so much better because they’re that wonderful and make her feel like it’s always a team effort.
But since she’s been feeling so sad and down lately, she figured there was no way her coworkers could feel good about her.
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However, she overheard her coworkers talking about her behind her back the other day, and it changed everything. They all said that they were thrilled she got hired at their company, since she’s hilarious and fits in effortlessly.
Hearing them compliment her like that, not knowing she could hear their words, changed something inside of her.
“It made me realize the awful hand I’ve been dealt wasn’t the end of the world, because people out there still liked me for who I am, even if I didn’t like myself,” she continued.
“I still have a lot I have to overcome. Like learning how to live in my new normal physically and mentally, but I think I’ll be okay.”
She doesn’t owe the world a perfect comeback story, and she doesn’t need to be better or fixed to be worthy of kindness. The people who matter already see her, and not for what she’s lost, but for what she still is.
That moment she overheard wasn’t luck, it was proof that she didn’t disappear. Because the story in her head is starting to catch up to the one everyone else already sees.
What advice do you have for her?
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By Bre Avery Zacharski
Hi, I'm Bre, Chip Chick's CEO! I have a degree in Textile/Surface Design from The Fashion Institute of Technology, and... More about Bre Avery Zacharski
