I would rather succeed or fail as myself

Being fully present with someone means being fully exposed. And it really does hurt to show up that way and have it crumble.

I sat with that. I decided I am willing to take that pain, which is honestly more of a sting than true pain, for a better shot at being fully me.

So I try to be fully present, and I accept that I may get hurt along the way because of it. It is not easy, and I am not perfect at it.

I would much rather find success or failure from a place of authenticity than from anywhere else.