So, this isn't a very well put together thought, but it is a thought.

I was talking to a friend who had been sorta whining about this girl, and then he later realized that I had a lot on my mind and began apologizing for complaining about such a trivial thing. I protested that, no, his feelings were valid no matter how unimportant they may seem.

He told me that if it ever happened again, I could tell him to shut up and he'd be fine. I replied that I would never doing, that if I did that, I would be invalidating his feelings.

He responded, "in a way, if you don't want to hear it and you don't tell me to shut up, you're invalidating your feelings too, right?"

And...he's right.

I'm not entirely sure what else to say. But there's some wisdom for you right there on a reason why you have the right to say no to people.

~Margot

Picture is another Leonid Aremov. It's currently my lock screen.