They Didn’t Have to Be That Way

[deno]

There was a time when I asked, Why me?
Why was I the one targeted?
Why was I the one left alone?
Why was I the one who saw the truth when no one else seemed to care?

But lately… another question has surfaced.
Why them?
Why did they choose jealousy over kindness?
Cruelty over connection?
Betrayal over love?

I was just trying to live. To share. To do good work.
I didn’t come to compete—I came to contribute.
And somehow… that made me a threat.

I see it now.
They didn’t hurt me because I was weak.
They hurt me because I was strong in ways they couldn’t understand.
Because I had something they couldn’t fake:
integrity, creativity, heart.

They didn’t have to become what they became.
They didn’t have to be evil.
But I had to be me.
Even when it cost me everything.

And still—I never backed down.
That’s my story.
Not one of bitterness, but of clarity.
Not a life ruined by betrayal—but refined by truth.

Maybe I wasn’t here to win their game.
Maybe I was here to name it,
walk away from it,
and build something that couldn’t be taken.

 

[Survivor3]

Hi @deno that was beautifully written. I could have written that myself about my own story. It's overwhelming how true it is. All the best to you.

 

[arfie]

and? ? ? do those answers point to a healing path?

i do not know why i was chosen to be victimized as a child. i worry more about how to heal the damage.

 

[deno]

That’s the right question, arfie. And yes, oddly enough, they do point to a healing path. Not because the answers justify what happened, but because they help me understand what I was against.

I used to think healing meant finding peace with the past. Now I think it’s about finding clarity—and letting that clarity direct where I go from here. I may never know why I was chosen. But I know now it had nothing to do with my worth. I see that jealousy, insecurity, and deep dysfunction shaped the people who targeted me. I used to think I could help them, fix it, rise above it. But the truth is, they didn’t want that.

They chose to be who they were. I didn’t. And maybe that’s the start of healing... knowing who you are and walking away from what you never deserved.

 

[TruthSeeker1]

There was a time when I asked, Why me?
Why was I the one targeted?
Why was I the one left alone?
Why was I the one who saw the truth when no one else seemed to care?

But lately… another question has surfaced.
Why them?
Why did they choose jealousy over kindness?
Cruelty over connection?
Betrayal over love?

I was just trying to live. To share. To do good work.
I didn’t come to compete—I came to contribute.
And somehow… that made me a threat.

I see it now.
They didn’t hurt me because I was weak.
They hurt me because I was strong in ways they couldn’t understand.
Because I had something they couldn’t fake:
integrity, creativity, heart.

They didn’t have to become what they became.
They didn’t have to be evil.
But I had to be me.
Even when it cost me everything.

And still—I never backed down.
That’s my story.
Not one of bitterness, but of clarity.
Not a life ruined by betrayal—but refined by truth.

Maybe I wasn’t here to win their game.
Maybe I was here to name it,
walk away from it,
and build something that couldn’t be taken.

This sounds like my story, too. Amazing!