• Allow others to speak down to you and you will begin to look down on yourself. You will begin to see yourself through their lens and even begin to agree with them.
• Allow others to speak ill of you and you will begin to hide and avoid people and believe their disrespect is somehow deserved. You will begin to carry a sense of shame that’s difficult to shed.
• Allow others to lie to you (and then on top of that make excuses for them) and you will begin to fumble with what it true and what is not and soon you will be unable to tell the difference. You will begin to question your judgment (and sanity) about the most insignificant of matters.
Firmly, kindly address those who choose to treat you poorly, knowing you will ruffle feathers (or more).
Use “I” statements. Define yourself; not others. Don’t go into detail.
People who treat others in the ways I have described – power-hungry people – love an argument. They will bully you into seeing just how wrong you are and how much you’ve misunderstood them.
Relationships are not about winning or losing and you know they that. They don’t.
Do not be afraid to walk away from ANY relationship that does not hold you in highest regard. Life is far too short and already far too difficult to have to bear the added burden of accommodating another person’s unresolved power-issues.
difficultrelationships.com 
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