Dear Soulstar,

I am truly sorry for your pain. I am certain that my mother favors my sibling over me, and, when I allow myself to focus on that fact, I feel hurt and “less than”. The key here is : “when I allow myself to focus on that.”

You can only change one person’s feelings: YOURS.

Please don’t do yourself the IMMESNSE disservice of allowing their situation and/or opinions of you and yours to dictate how you see yourself.

You are beautiful. You are worthy. You have a heart. And you are not afraid to speak your truth or show your pain and compassion. (Qualities I suspect the rest of your family chooses not to express.)

The unfortunate truth is that family members are human just like friends and strangers – and, sometimes they should be treated as such. I feel that we sometimes idealize what our family “should be” instead of accepting that they might be just as disconnected from us as the cashier in a supermarket. You might try lowering your expectations of what you want from them. The great thing is, that if you look beyond your family, you might find many other people who love you in more ways than you probably realize.

Remember that any energy you put into trying to change someone else is energy you are not using to better yourself.

Wishing you happiness!!
-Bronte