No More Forgiveness!

No more forgiveness!

To the managers who overlooked me

To the colleagues who made me insecure

To the teammates who made it difficult

To the organisations whose reorgs pushed me out or down

To the executives who belittled me

To the HR officers who didn’t stand by me

To the work cultures that left me self-doubting

To the friends who weren’t there when it mattered

To the parents who missed the mark

To the siblings who were unfair

No more forgiveness!

I now see your game

I get what you were doing

I understand you meant no harm

I recognise you were doing your best

I know you had your thing going on too

That through your eyes – gulp! – it wasn’t about me

And to even think that it was… was just my thinking

Understandable as it was. But still made up.

So to all those who harmed me in the past

And – as best I can promise – those who do so in the future

No more forgiveness!

Because there’s nothing to forgive

You never harmed me after all. I just thought you did.

I wasn’t even harmed. That was just an idea I had.

And if for a moment I can step into the bigger me

I will say instead: thank you

Thank you for making me strong

Thank you for making me think

Thank you for making me get resourceful

Thank you for opening me up

Thank you for being my teachers

Thank you for doing your best

And for making me do mine

No more forgiveness!

Instead, only thanks 🙏