Nothing is insignificant – a little burn on a small but critical area of my hand has limited so much movement, I would never have otherwise been grateful for these tiny muscles and the stretchiness of this part of my hand – I didn’t know that it was that central to my existence, my functioning. So while on the one hand i do believe that nobody is irreplaceable, this has taught me that nothing is really replaceable either.

And if you ever feel like you might be useless or dispensable in the world, just remember that the injury of a tiny never-thought-of muscle in one’s body can render a person quite dysfunctional sometimes. (PS: Nothing to worry, I am fine now, this happened a week ago and it has healed a lot)

The second one pertains to the good-bad people business, I just wanted to share because I know a lot of us here struggle with identifying the people in our lives that put us at some sort of risk. I realised that this had to do with my ‘good-person syndrome’. I knew that certain people were…. not good. But I judged myself for labeling them as bad, which prevented me from actually being in touch with reality, and therefore made me careless around people I should have exercised caution around.

I guess it was my own lack of understanding around the fact that nothing is replaceable, but also that not everything is ‘equal’ and interchangeable. Shit has its place – but in the garden, not on your porch. Fresh fruits belong on your plate, not as decorative items in your showcase. In the wrong place and the wrong association, everything is toxic.

This is how we allow for toxic relationships in our own lives, creating space for US becoming toxic to others – by not assessing properly if a person belongs in our lives or whether it’s a bad combination. Could be a person. Could be a habit. Could be things we ingest, like food or information. The wise thing to do is to exercise discernment and not be afraid of calling a spade a spade, while not judging it at the same time for being what it is.