Mrs. Misunderstood

“ You just have to find that thing that's special about you that distinguishes you from all the others, and through true talent, hardwork, and passion, anything can happen . ” - Dr. Dre

There’s a name I’ve come to know well—one I never asked for, but one I’ve had to learn to carry.

Mrs. Misunderstood.

It doesn’t show up all at once. It builds slowly, in moments that catch you off guard. In conversations where your truth is questioned. In rooms where your heart is judged before it’s ever truly heard. In the silence that follows when you realize people have already decided who you are… without ever asking.

I remember when I believed I had found my calling. It felt so clear—so aligned. A heart for God. A heart for people. A calling to help others heal. It wasn’t just something I wanted to do… it was something I felt created to do.

And then, just like that, it was challenged.

Not gently. Not with curiosity. But with doubt.

I watched someone look at me—not through me, not into me—but at me, with a kind of certainty that said, you’re not who you say you are. And in that moment, everything inside of me started to question itself.

Am I too much?
Did I say too much?
Am I wrong for feeling this deeply?

That’s what being misunderstood does. It doesn’t just hurt—it confuses. It makes you turn inward and start picking apart pieces of yourself that were never broken to begin with.

I was told I was “too showy.” That I drew too much attention. That I didn’t fit.

And maybe the hardest part wasn’t the words themselves… it was where they came from. A place that was supposed to be safe. A place that was supposed to build people up, not quietly tear them down.

So I sat in the distance, removed from something I was once a part of, watching it continue without me. And I remember thinking—this is what it feels like to be erased while still being present.

But here’s what I’ve learned about being Mrs. Misunderstood:

It forces a choice.

You can shrink. You can quiet your voice. You can become who they’re more comfortable with.

Or…

You can stand in the discomfort of being seen incorrectly and refuse to abandon who you know you are.

That night, I didn’t pray for them to change their minds about me. I prayed for strength—not to react, not to break, not to lose myself trying to prove something to people who had already made up their minds.

Because the truth is, being misunderstood will either harden you… or it will refine you.

It will teach you how to carry pain without letting it define you.
It will teach you how to walk away without losing your dignity.
It will teach you that not everyone is meant to understand your calling—and that doesn’t make it any less real.

I thought I had lost something in that moment.

But what I actually found… was myself.

And now, when I hear that name—Mrs. Misunderstood—I don’t hear weakness anymore.

I hear resilience.

Because I am no longer fighting to be understood by everyone.

I’m committed to being authentic, even when they don’t.