I am a work in progress. We all are. Currently, I am working on learning how to set healthy boundaries without feeling guilty afterward or that setting boundaries make me come across as a mean person. I know boundaries are not bad, however, they do feel uncomfortable for me to set, though they are absolutely necessary.

If you are by any means cynical or someone who blames the world for their problems, never taking responsibility for how their choices effect consequences, please understand that I'm more than happy to listen, but do not expect me to agree with you or condone that kind of attitude through feeling bad for you or pitying you.

I have a lot of my own struggles going on that I have to manage, and simply do not have time for that negativity. I try to be an optimistic person with realistic expectations of others and high expectations of myself, which I've heard can get annoying to those people who play the victim all the time.

This is not me trying to be mean, I am simply setting a boundary. I don't need people trying to bring me down to their level, creating unnecessary drama, and pushing my buttons to get a rise out of me or make me look like a gullible fool. I will never feel bad for you, as much as you may want me to because that's not who I am. I'm a strong believer in hard work and getting help when you need it, instead of whining about it and doing nothing to fix the situation, ever.

Take responsibility for who you as a person and take responsibility for your actions, character, and well-being. The older we get, the more responsibility we have. As overwhelming as it feels at times, we need to realize that the world is not out to get us, being negative more a waste of time than not, and in recognizing our role in what upsets us, we hold more power than we know.

I get having a bad day or a bad week but don't make it a bad life. If you are having issues with your mental or physical health, ask for help, reach out and talk about it, as hard as it feels in the moment. I've done the "suffering in silence because you're too proud and hating yourself because of it" thing before and all it does is make everything worse.

Again, I'm happy to listen. But I refuse to become cynical. I refuse to stop believing in myself. I refuse to stop working hard for what I want in life. I refuse to fall anywhere lower than my full potential. I refuse to be mean or judgmental. I refuse to feed into the toxic negativity that has plagued society and I don't really care if anyone has a problem with that, not anymore. I'm done making excuses for people and I'm done feeding into a drama that won't matter in 5 years.

So, to all the cynical people who blame the world for their unhappiness, this is not me being mean, this is me setting a boundary.