What standing up to others will do for yourself

I finally did it today. I told the creep to get off my back and stay away from me. Unsurprisingly he said I was sensitive, but anybody would be sensitive with him around. I told him I would be lying if I didn't tell him how I actually felt. 

You don't stand up for yourself for people around you. You do it for yourself. You do it for self-respect, self-love and self-worth. It doesn't matter if the things you say sound harsh. They have to be, especially if you're feeling harassed, threatened or stalked. If non-verbal body language doesn't work, then a face-to-face confrontation must happen. Because nobody should suffer in silence. 

You feel like you can't, because the words are too difficult to utter, but it's either you do it, or nobody do anything at all. But when you muster up the courage to actually say something, these things happen. First you are surprised at yourself, then you feel the sense of accomplishment. And then you feel the dare to say the things you've always wanted to say. The moment arrives and you unleash your innermost angst onto the origin of it. Then things calm down, perhaps you receive an apology. You feel justified with that, and you feel perhaps a slight tinge of regret that things had to come to this stage. But then that feeling is fleeting because the horrible memories of you being traumatized is just too great to forget. 

Then at last you both part ways and you feel the sense of relief, that you finally did it and all's over now. It's something that you do for yourself, because in life you have to got to do this more than once.