Absolutely agree with you about external factors - however this gives the answer on whether to stay or not - not saying it’s easy to follow through!

Isn’t it such a shame how much were willing to torture ourselves just because of societal pressures?? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately - as you start to just witness those thoughts and ask yourself - is this truly what I want? If there was no external influence at all, what would I do?

Over time I think we can challenge those thoughts more easily but they don’t go away! So wild how wired we are to be accepted.

Thanks for the response it got me thinking!