Never victimize yourself. You always have agency, you always have power, you can always get up and walk away. You can always ask for help, you can always learn how to communicate differently. Taking responsibility for your circumstances, even when they're difficult, is the first step toward changing them. While external factors may create challenges, focusing on what you can control rather than what you can't allows you to maintain your personal power. Even in the most challenging situations, you have choices about how to respond, what meaning to assign to events, and what actions to take next. Developing this mindset of personal agency doesn't mean denying real obstacles or hardships, but rather approaching them with the belief that you can influence your path forward.