The moment you stop explaining yourself to people who misunderstand you on purpose is the moment your energy comes back.
There is a version of you that has spent years trying to be understood by people who were never actually trying to understand you. You clarified. You rephrased. You gave more context, more patience, more grace. And it never landed. Because it was never about understanding. It was about control.
Some people do not misunderstand you by accident. They misunderstand you because it keeps you in a position of having to justify yourself. And as long as you are justifying, you are not leading. You are not building. You are not free.
The day you stop trying to make people understand who you are when they have already decided who you are is a deeply liberating day. Not because the relationship changes. It usually does not. But because you do.
Your energy is finite. Where you spend it determines everything. Spending it on people who weaponize your explanations against you is one of the most expensive things you can do with your life.
You do not need everyone to understand you. You need the right people to. And the right people usually do not require this much convincing.
Russ Kyle