What you owe to yourself.

I knew someone who used to keep how he really felt bottled up inside, he was filling himself with all these unexpressed feelings and thoughts; but at some point he would feel overwhelmed due to all this toxic storage deep inside, and so like a balloon with too much air he would end up bursting into anger and anxiety.

This system of behavior was really bad for his own character development, for his mind and his overall health; and, furthermore, this really damaged his relationships and destroyed greater opportunities in life–i.e., his financial and societal opportunities, as his understanding of family values and tolerance of himself and of others.

And the worst, he would lose it whenever he would burst into these unexpressed emotions, his mind would get so angry and anxious that all love and understanding would leave him.  He would lose himself in that moment.

He would really hate himself afterwards though, because he was a really nice guy with really lots of love buried deep to share with others.  He just did not know the right way to share this love.

And this can happen to any of us, if there is no self-awareness.  Self-awareness means in this case to know that you must express yourself to free yourself.

You have to share your thoughts and feelings with people; do not keep them inside just because you think they are negative or because you think people won’t like to hear them.

Be honest, but not cruel.  Transform your words and feelings accurately into direct truth.  Speak your mind, be firm in your personal convictions and loyal to yourself.  You owe that much to yourself.

And you also owe that much to others if you want to walk the ethics-and-morals path, and if you want your character to develop mightily in your life.