I spent 25 years trying to make myself smaller—quieter, easier, more manageable. I thought if I toned myself down, if I took up less space, life would be easier. But instead, I became unrecognizable to myself.What they don’t tell you is that shrinking yourself doesn’t make life better—it just makes it smaller. And the longer you do it, the harder it is to remember who you actually are.So let’s talk about it. Why we’re taught to shrink. Why it doesn’t work. And why is it time to stop editing yourself for people who would never accept you anyway?