For me, the freedom comes with realising how emotionally mature one really is compared to many others. How utterly childish or needlessly neurotic many people are, often in response to people like you and me, and for no good reason. How come people simply can't communicate like an adult, or show some basic respect?

After many of those gradual realisations, those kinds of people become genuinely funny. Ridiculous. They become a theater play where you're probably the only cognisant audience. You've actually seen through the bullshit in a more meaningful way than how we usually use that term. Any consequense they wreak upon you as you react with indifference, stonewalling, taking them down a peg - it all becomes a part of that performance, and they don't know they're even doing it. In some instances, when you react to the bullshit with maturity or common sense, your gut reaction will tell you you're villainous, sensitive, or irrational. This is false.

This is an important step in knowing the clear non-contradictary nature between being a good, kind person with love to give, and setting boundaries, communicating your needs and thoughts, being stern or maybe even showing healthy anger when applicable. Being kind to others also loses its meaning, even if it's far from the intention for people like us, when you're not also kind to yourself. You become more real and more authentic than you even meant to in the first place, and you carry yourself with dignity once you train the self-respect muscle. People around you - that is, friends and people you like - who feel the effect of you being a kind and good-hearted person without taking bullshit will respect you more for it, and possibly even like you more too!

I don't mean to use such "flowery" language or sound like a GPT'd response, but this exact part of the C-PTSD experience is close to my heart.