My senior year of high school, there was an entire group of girls that intentionally cut me out of their clique.⁣

⁣I’ll never forget how I felt Fourth of July weekend. ⁣

I walked up to a group of “friends”, and a few of the girls intentionally turned their backs to my face when I said hi.⁣

Confused — I then had to hear through the grapevine that they no longer wanted anything to do with me.⁣

⁣I have never felt so unseen, or worthless, in my entire life.⁣

⁣I went home and bawled my eyes out in my bathroom.⁣

I didn’t understand why they didn’t like me.⁣

⁣Hadn’t I been nice?⁣

Had I done something wrong?⁣

Why was I being excluded?⁣

⁣It was then that I decided women were too hard to be friends with.⁣

⁣“𝘐’𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯” cleverly disguised as…⁣

“𝘐’𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘴.”⁣

⁣And for years, I perpetuated this truth.⁣

⁣Has something like this happened to you, too?⁣

⁣Somewhere along the way something happens.⁣

We make it mean something about ourselves.⁣

We create a story.⁣

⁣Then we create this reality over and over again to fit the truth we’ve constructed.⁣

⁣Clever little humans, aren’t we? 🤨⁣

⁣And here’s the thing…⁣

⁣It might not be your fault that you were hurt.⁣

But it is your responsibility to rewrite that story if you want a better reality.⁣

⁣Now two years in to my entrepreneurial journey, I have been able to curate my circle perfectly.⁣

⁣Friends that root for one another.⁣

Friends that lift each other up.⁣

Friends that remind you of your purpose when you forget it yourself (thanks @courtneymeadowsfit)⁣

⁣Your past rejection isn’t truth.⁣

And neither are the stories you’ve held on to since high school.⁣

⁣Instead of letting those experiences define who we are,⁣

Let’s have them define who we become.⁣

⁣Rooting for you,⁣

XX, ⁣

Rach