Standard of life

Nobody’s standard of living is wrong.

How you choose to live, what you allow, what you do, who you spend your time with, what matters to you, that is your business.

Live how you want.

I am not interested in telling people they are living incorrectly.

But this is where people get confused.

The moment I decide that a certain lifestyle, attitude, habit, or way of moving through life does not fit with mine, suddenly I am called judgmental. Suddenly I think I am better. Suddenly I have a problem with how somebody else lives.

That is not what is happening.

What is actually happening is much simpler.

I have recognised that we are not compatible, and I am acting accordingly.

Those are not the same thing.

People often confuse standards with judgment because it is easier to believe somebody is criticising you than to accept that you simply do not fit into the life they want.

But my standards shape everything. How I spend my time. How I communicate. What I expect in return. What I tolerate. What I refuse to tolerate. The pace of my life. The kind of people I keep around. The kind of energy I allow near me.

None of that exists to make somebody else comfortable. And none of it is up for negotiation simply because another person feels rejected by it.

If your way of living does not line up with mine, that does not mean you are wrong. It does not mean I am right. It just means we are different.

The world is full of people living completely different lives, with completely different priorities, and most of them are valid.

But I still get to decide how close I want to be to them.

That might mean often. It might mean occasionally. It might mean not at all.

That choice belongs to me.

The people who struggle with this the most are usually the people who have never clearly defined their own standards. When you do not know what you want, boundaries feel like rejection. Standards feel like superiority. Distance feels personal.

But it is not. It is simply two people moving in different directions.

You do not have to justify your standards. You do not have to apologise for them. And you do not have to lower them just to make somebody else feel more comfortable.

Your standards exist to protect the quality of your life. Your time. Your energy. Your peace.

Live how you want. I will do the same.