If the environment you grew up in told you that it is not safe to be yourself, the people you were surrounded with were critical and short-tempered, were lacking patience and understanding, let alone moral support was a no show, then you learned to survive, you learned not to be yourself, you retreated to avoid such unpleasant encounters, again and again. But your early life experiences, as impactful and damaging as they were, they do not last, if you choose to change your environment. It doesn’t mean that the world will always respond to who you truly are, the way it did when you were growing up. The people surrounding you back then chose to behave the way they did, it had nothing to do with you. It is on them, not on you. Be free to be you. Be unapologetically you. And protect yourself from any environment that feels damaging to you, nothing better than taking some distance (or a lot).