THEIR SHOCK AT YOUR TRUTH VIOLATES THEIR SOCIAL SCRIPT

When you share a deeply vulnerable truth with someone and they respond with shock or dismissal, it’s easy to feel like we are the one who’s out of place. But often, their reaction says more about their discomfort than your truth because in that moment, they’ve lost control of a narrative that once felt predictable.

Their disbelief isn’t exposing you, it’s exposing their misjudgments of you.
Their laughter isn’t threatening your emotional safety, it’s threatening their social script.
Their reactions aren’t challenging your credibility, it’s challenging their false assumptions.

 Sometimes people just don’t know how to react when they are caught off guard. It forces them to feel something they’ve likely been avoiding. Even if they are unintentionally being dismissive to a truth that you are grounded in, remember that their reaction isn’t an assessment of your credibility. It’s an attempt to protect theirs.