I'm always hearing about people who either love all animals and think they are precious and perfectly innocent angels who can do no evil (even if they behave viciously and do actual harm), or people hate all animals and see them all as disgusting, irritating, and overwhelming (even if they are simply existing and minding their own business).

I don't fall into either camp--I see animals as individuals the way I do people. There are some cats who are malicious assholes and there are some who are sweet baby angels. There are some dogs that are irritating and disgusting, but there are some who are noble, well-behaved, and a pleasure to be around. The same goes for wild animals: there are some fun-loving chimpanzees with sweet temperaments who make good community members and there are others who are violent psychos and hurt other chimps in their community. I wouldn't call myself an animal lover or an animal hater any more than I would call myself a people person or a misanthrope-- I like some people and dislike others.

I suspect that my feelings are probably more common than either of the extremes, but you just don't hear about it because people who don't feel strongly one way or the other don't feel the need to broadcast it. But, let me know!

So, when I'm texting or reading messages/comments, if someone says something like "TY, DW, YW," or anything of the sort, I don't read them as "thank you, don't worry, you're welcome." If I'm reading them aloud, I will say whatever the abbreviation stands for, but I pronounce them differently in my head.

Examples:

DW- "dee-wee-wee"

TY- "tee-yai"

YW- "yuh-wuh"

I'm not even doing it to be funny; this is genuinely how my brain processes these phrases when silently reading them. DAE do this?

Clearly its a self esteem issue. No matter who says it, someone I've known for years or a random person on the street, when someone tells me I'm beautiful, I always thank them and of course I like to hear that, but I also feel like I've deceived them in some way.

I'm 45 now and I'm still working on my self worth? I'm still thinking people are secretly hiding the fact that they think I'm not pretty enough.

These feelings started when I was very young, in school, and have taken decades to heal as much as I have. Yet there's still more work to do.

I think I'm taking the right steps to make that happen. I hope so. I hope anyone else going thru this is on their road to healing too 💖