Pretend to Be Blind, and Watch Them Show Their True Colors

you know the funny thing about people they show you their best masks when they think you're watching polished Smiles rehearsed kindness fake laughter it's all a game a circus of pretense but the moment you close your eyes or better yet pretend to that's when their real selves crawl out like maggots from a corpse yeah I know what you're thinking oh Joker you're just cynical you've seen too much but let me ask you have you have you ever stood still closed your eyes and just listened let them think you're too blind to see their schemes too

deaf to hear the Venom they spit behind your back no then you've been walking through life with your eyes wide shut my friend let me explain picture this you trust someone your best friend your partner your blood even you tell them your secrets your dreams your fears you hand them the keys to the Fortress of you and what do they do they smile nod Pat you on the back like a good little actor but when the spotlights off they rumage through your Fortress steal what's valuable mock what's fragile burn what's sacred why because they can

because they think you're too weak too blind to notice you want an example all right I'll paint you a picture there's a guy let's call him Joe Joe's got this friend let's call him Sam Joe trusts Sam with his life loans him money when he's broke covers for him when he screws up even takes the blame when Sam's mess gets too big and Sam oh he's grateful sure grateful enough to smile in Joe's face while plotting behind his back one day Joe loses everything job house dignity and where's Sam gone Mia found someone else to

leech off of Joe learns the hard way that loyalty is just a word and you you're not Joe are you no you're smarter or at least you think you are but let me tell you something every Joe thought he was smart until the Betrayal hit here's the kicker people don't betray you because you're weak they betray you because you're kind because you see the good in them even when they don't deserve it they hate that hate that you can still believe in something in someone when they've already sold their soul for scraps that's why I

say pretend to be blind let them think you're clueless watch them strip off their masks let the rod underneath ooze out but don't react no no that's the Trap they want you to scream cry demand answers don't give them the satisfaction you don't fight fire with fire kid you smother it now let's talk about you yeah you sitting there clinging to your little shards of hope your scraps of trust I see it in your eyes you still think there's good in them don't you wake up the world doesn't care about your hope your trust it

eats people like you alive here's what you do you learn to see without looking hear without listening you start reading between the lines every smile they flash question it every compliment analyze it trust me the cracks are there you just need to stop being so desperate to ignore them want another example look at me people look at me and see a monster a lunatic but you know what I am honest brutally painfully honest I wear my scars on the outside can't say the same for them can you they hide their scars their sins under designer

clothes and fake Smiles but deep down they're worse than me I may be mad but at least I'm not a liar you need to toughen up kid The World Isn't kind to dreamers to Believers it's a battlefield and you've been walking through it unarmed hoping for Mercy Mercy ha Mercy is a luxury for the powerful and you my friend are not powerful not yet but you can be oh you can be all it takes is a shift stop caring about their approval their validation let their opinions fall off you like rain on Stone you've spent

too much time trying to be their hero their savior news flash they don't want saving they want someone to blame when things go south so what's the plan are you going to sit there licking your wounds waiting for someone to care or are you going to rise not as their hero but as your own build walls so high that their Whispers can't reach you become so strong that they betray raail becomes nothing more than static noise in the background of your Symphony and when you've done that when you've truly mastered the art of pretending to

be blind do me a favor don't hate them pity them pity their small minds their shallow Hearts because the truth is they're already dead inside and you you're just getting started pretend to be blind kid and when they show you their true colors don't be surprised just smile because in the end You've Won they just don't know it yet you think this is all a game you think life hands you fairness Justice or loyalty on a silver platter let me teach you the cold hard Truth Kid the world is a stage and you're not even

in the audience you're the damn punchline they laugh at you behind closed doors they clap when you fail why because your pain makes them them feel a little less pathetic but here's the thing the punchline doesn't have to stay funny forever one day it's going to choke them if and this is a big if you learn to play your cards right look at those who've burned you study them each one carries a little lesson a little reminder of what not to trust that friend who smiled too wide when you shared good news that family member

who vanished the moment you needed the most they're all lessons in human nature lessons that most people ignore because they're too busy holding on to the fantasy that people care but you you're smarter than that now aren't you let's take a moment to get real here pretending to be blind doesn't mean you're weak it means you're playing the long game you're giving them the rope to hang themselves and trust me they will every single time they can't help it it's in their nature you see people like to think they're good they love to wrap themselves

eles in the illusion of kindness charity decency but strip away their comfort threaten their ego and watch how quickly that goodness turns into claws and fangs they'll rip you apart not because they hate you but because they hate themselves you're just the convenient scapegoat now let me tell you about betrayal betrayal isn't a knife in the back no it's a scalpel precise calculated it cuts deep but slow so slow you don't even realize you're bleeding until you're lying there empty wondering how the hell you let it happen and the worst part it's always the ones

you least expect you remember that old saying keep your friends close and your enemies closer nah screw that keep everyone at arms length trust is a weapon kid and you hand it out like candy on Halloween stop it learn to smile without meaning it laugh without feeling it play their game but don't let them play you here's what you need to understand people only care about you as long as you're useful the second you stop being their stepping stone you become their obstacle and obstacles they get bulldozed you don't want to be useful to them

you want to be indispensable to yourself build a life so fortified so unshakable that their absence feels like a damn blessing take a look at the relationships in your life each one is a contract unspoken sure but a contract nonetheless you give they take you love they tolerate you sacrifice they demand more break the cycle rewrite the damn terms no more giving without taking no more loyalty without reciprocity let's talk about love for a second shall we oh love the ultimate illusion they'll tell you it's about trust about vulnerability about forever lies all of it

love is a transaction a barter system and the moment you stop delivering the deal is off you think they love you for who you are no they love you for what you give them attention security validation and when someone else offers more they're gone harsh maybe but true absolutely don't get me wrong I'm not saying love doesn't exist it does but it's rare rarer than a perfect sunset in a storm and until you find it you need to protect yourself guard your heart like it's a treasure because to most people it's just another toy to

break now I know what you're thinking Joker this is too much you're making it sound like everyone's out to get me well aren't they maybe not intentionally but self-preservation is the oldest Instinct in the book and I and when when it comes down to it people will always choose themselves over you always so here's the deal stop trying to fix people stop trying to prove your Worth to those who don't see it the moment you stop caring what they think you become Unstoppable their opinions their judgments their chains and you you're a prisoner Break Free

and let me tell you something else when you finally open your eyes when you stop being the blind fool it's not going to be pretty you're going to see things you wish you hadn't friends who were never friends family who'd sell you out for pocket change lovers who never loved it's going to hurt like hell even but pain pain pain is the price of clarity you want to be strong learn to embrace that pain let it shape you sharpen you don't run from it don't drown it in booze or distractions face it own it and

when the dust settles you'll be someone they can't touch not because you're invincible but because you've seen it all before pretend to be blind kid not because you're weak but because you're watching observing waiting and when the time comes to open your eyes make sure they see the Monster they created staring back at them you owe them that much remember this the world doesn't break you it reveals you so let it and when it does show them exactly who you've become you know what I hate the most people who play the victim oh they're everywhere

crying about how unfair life is how they've been wronged how the world owes them something you know what the world owes you nothing not a damn thing it's not cruel it's indifferent and you you're just another Speck of dust in its Grand meaningless theater so stop whining stop sitting there clutching your wounds like they make you special pain isn't unique it's Universal everyone's got their scars the difference is some people wear theirs like armor While others let theirs rot and fester until they become nothing but walking corpses of self-pity let me tell you a secret

pain is power betrayal that's a lesson abandonment that's Freedom every time someone wrongs you they're giving you a gift a reason to get stronger a reason to stop needing them but you you keep treating these moments like tragedies when they're the best damn things that could happen to you take betrayal for instance when someone stabs you in the back they're not taking something from you they're exposing themselves they're showing you who they really are and once you see them for what they are you hold the power you can cut them off walk away and never

look back you you can strip them of the illusion that they matter and abandonment oh that's my favorite when people leave you they're doing you a favor they're trimming the fat clearing the dead weight you ever tried running with a ball and chain around your ankle that's what those people are chains and when they leave they think they're breaking you but all they're doing is setting you free here's a hard truth you're not owed love loyalty or friendship those things aren't rights they're Privileges and most people they don't deserve them you've been giving them away

for free handing them out like party favors and then you're surprised when people treat them like trash that's on you value yourself treat your loyalty like gold your trust like diamonds rare precious and only for those who earn it and let me tell you something very few people will most will take one look at the price and walk away good let them you don't want those people around anyway let's talk about masks everyone wears one hell even I do but the difference between me and them I know I'm wearing one they don't they think the

mask is their real face they've warn it for so long lied for so long that they've forgotten what they look like underneath but you you need to see through it you need to look past the smiles the sweet words the promises look for the cracks they're always there people are like glass press them hard enough and they shatter and when they do you see all the dirt all the ugliness they've been hiding but don't break them too quickly no no let them crack slowly let them show you their true colors one lie at a time

one betrayal at a time and when they finally fall apart don't pick up the pieces step over them keep walking you want to know what strength really is it's not muscles or money or power it's control control over yourself over your emotions over your reactions the moment you let someone else dictate how you feel how you act you've lost you think anger makes you strong it doesn't it makes you predictable and predictable people they're easy to control so when they hurt you when they lie to you when they leave you don't react smile let them

think they've won let them think they've broken you because while they're celebrating you're rebuilding you're growing and one day when they're stuck in the same pathetic cycle of lies and betrayal you'll be untouchable now let's talk about revenge ah sweet tempting Revenge I know you're thinking about it you're dreaming of ways to make them pay to make them suffer like you did but let me tell you something Revenge Is For Fools it's a waste of time time a waste of energy you don't get even with people by stooping to their level you get even by

Rising so far above them that they can't even see you anymore success that's the ultimate Revenge not the kind they can see though no flashy cars no big houses real success is internal peace peace Independence strength when you reach a point where their betrayal doesn't even sting where their absence doesn't even matter that's when you've won but here's the thing winning doesn't mean you won't feel the pain oh you'll feel it all right it'll creep up on you in the middle of the night whisper in your ear when you're alone but pain isn't the enemy

ignorance is denial is face the pain let it remind you why you're fighting let it fuel you and when the pain Fades and it will you'll be left with something else something stronger a version of yourself that does doesn't need their approval their love their validation a version of yourself that doesn't just survive but thrives pretend to be blind kid let them show their true colors and when they do don't hate them don't even pity them just let them go because at the end of the day the only person you can truly count on is

staring back at you in the mirror make that person so strong so unshakable that the world itself can't touch them and when you've done that then and only then will you truly see let them show you who they really are and then show show them who you've become you know I almost walked out of here almost but there's one more thing you need to hear one more piece to the puzzle it's about you yeah you you're sitting there soaking in my words like their gospel but here's the kicker you're still waiting for permission waiting for

someone anyone to tell you it's okay to let go to walk away to burn it all down and start over well let me save you the suspense no one's coming to give you that no one's going to Pat you on the back and say it's time to be strong you want freedom take it and let's get one thing straight being strong doesn't mean you don't feel oh you'll feel it all the pain the Betrayal the loneliness it'll hit you like a freight train leave you gasping for air but strength isn't about avoiding pain it's about

enduring it living through it carrying it like a badge of honor because every scar every wound every damn tear is proof that you survived when they thought you wouldn't you think they care about you you think they're sitting around regretting what they did missing you feeling guilty ha no they've moved on they found someone else to leech off someone else to use and you you're still here stuck in the quicksand of your own emotions letting their absence Define you stop just stop they're not worth it none of them are every second you spend thinking about

them wondering what went wrong what you could have done differently that's a second you could have spent building something for yourself something real something they can't take away let me tell you a story there was this kid once about your age let's call him Jack Jack was soft kind always trying to help always putting others first and people oh they loved Jack for what he could do for them for the way he made their lives easier their days brighter but one day Jack needed help just a little just enough to keep him from falling apart

and guess what no one was there not his friends not his family not even the ones who swore they'd be there forever Jack fell hard and for a while he stayed down drowning in the Betrayal the loneliness but then something clicked Jack realized that the only person who was ever going to save him was himself so he got up slowly painfully he started cutting people off one by one the users the Liars the dead weight he stopped caring what they thought stopped chasing their approval and you know what happened Jack became Unstoppable not because he

didn't feel pain anymore but because he stopped letting it control him he turned his scars into armor his anger into Fuel and those people who abandoned him they came crawling back oh they always do but by then Jack didn't need them he didn't want them he had already built a life they couldn't touch now you might be thinking that's just a story Joker that's not me but let me ask you this why isn't it what's stopping you from being Jack fear doubt the little voice in your head that keeps telling you you're not enough let

me tell you something that voice it's a liar a parasite and the only way to kill it is to prove it wrong you've spent your whole life letting people tell you who you are what you're worth but do you even know have you ever stopped to ask yourself who am I without them without their opinions their validation their love you're terrified to find out aren't you because deep down you think you're nothing well I've got news for you you're not nothing you're everything you've just been too blinded by their lies to see it here's what

you need to do start over wipe the Slate clean let go of the people who don't deserve you the memories that haunt you the chains you've wrapped around yourself it won't be easy hell it'll be the hardest thing you've ever done but when you come out the other side you'll be unrecognizable And when they see you stronger colder Untouchable they'll regret every time they doubted you every time they hurt you but by then their regret won't matter because you'll have moved on pretend to be blind kid watch them study them learn from their mistakes their

cruelty and when the time comes to open your eyes don't just see Act take everything they thought they knew about you and turn it on its head show them that the person they left for dead is the one who will bury them not out of hatred not out of Revenge but because you've outgrown them they showed you their true colors now now it's your turn to show them yours you're not the same anymore and neither is the world you thought you knew the silence in the room grows heavier as though the very air has absorbed

the weight of his words yet somehow it feels incomplete the Joker's laughter Fades into the distance but his voice his Relentless cutting Darkly motivational voice lingers it's almost as if he's still there lurking in the shadows speaking directly to your soul you know what's funny about this world the people who hurt you always think they've won they think they've broken you left you in pieces nothing but a shadow of who you used to be and for a while maybe they're right maybe you lie there broken bleeding doubting yourself but here's the twist they don't realize

that every piece they shatter becomes a weapon every scar they leave behind is another layer of armor think about it when they lie to you when they abandoned you when they used you they weren't killing you they were remaking you they were forging something stronger sharper deadlier and the best part they don't even see it they think you're still the same soft naive trusting fool they took for granted but you're not not anymore let's talk about trust for a second oh trust the thing they preach about in every relationship every friendship every family bond you

have to trust me they say without trust what do we have huh what do you have I'll tell you what you have you have a leash around your neck a leash they'll yank the second you stop being useful to them so stop handing out trust like it's free candy make them earn it and not with words not with promises words are cheap promises are worthless watch their actions see how they treat you when they have nothing to gain that's the only time you'll ever see the truth and even then don't give them all of you

keep something for yourself because the second they think they have you figured out the second they think they own you they'll start to take you for granted and that's when the betrayals start you you ever heard the phrase hurt people hurt people it's true you know but not in the way they want you to think they'll use it as an excuse a shield oh I hurt you because I was hurting too bull they hurt you because they could because they wanted to because your pain made them feel powerful but here's the secret they're terrified of

you terrified of what you could become if you stopped caring about their approval their validation that's why they hurt you to keep you small to keep you doubting yourself because the moment you realize how strong you really are they're done you think they regret what they did to you maybe maybe not but does it matter regret doesn't change the past it doesn't erase the scars and it sure as hell doesn't make them better people all regret does is serve as a reminder to them not to you a reminder of what they lost when they betrayed

you and you you don't need their regret you don't need their apologies their explanations their closure closure is a myth kid the only closure you'll ever get is the one you give yourself when you decide you're done waiting for them to make it right when you choose to move on not because they deserve forgiveness but because you deserve peace let's get real here you're not a victim yeah they hurt you yeah they lied to you used you left you so what everyone's been hurt everyone's been betrayed What Makes You Different isn't what happened to you

it's what you do with it you have two choices you can let it destroy you let it turn you into a bitter broken shell of who you used to be or you can use it use the pain the anger the Betrayal let it fuel you drive you shape you into someone they can't touch someone who doesn't just survive but thrives you want to know the real secret to strength it's not about being Invincible it's not about never feeling pain never breaking down it's about resilience it's about getting back up every time they knock you down

about staring in them in the face scars and all and saying you can't break me and when you reach that point when you become that person something amazing happens they stop mattering their lies their betrayals their absence it all becomes noise background static in the Symphony of your life because here's the truth they don't Define you their actions their words their opinions they're nothing you are who you choose to be not who they tried to make you not who they thought you were pretend to be blind kid not because you're weak but because you're watching

let them show you who they really are let them think they've won and then rise not for them not to prove anything to anyone else rise for you because at the end of the day you're the only one who matters the only one who will be there when everyone else is gone the only one who knows your worth your pain your strength and when you finally see that when you finally believe it they won't just regret losing you they'll fear you this isn't about them it was never about them it's about you about finding your

strength your voice your power about becoming the person they never thought you could be and this time you're not pretending to be blind you're choosing to see