'Is it Getting Better or Do You Feel the Same?'

I am so painfully aware of my flaws, and don't need them brought to my attention on a daily basis. I spend so much time trying to see myself for what I am and to fix the things I don't like; I don't have delusions of grandeur. I never claimed to be perfect. I don't expect you to be and I try to accept you as you are, so why can't you extend the same courtesy? Fix this, change that, say this, don't do that, and on and on it goes until all I want to do is hide.

I'm fighting to keep myself afloat, to try to repair all the damage that has been done through out my life; to reprogram my negative self image; to know I'm not all those hurtful things I was told growing up. When I think I'm finally achieving that, you say something negative, and I'm an awkward, uncomfortable teenager again.

Why do we allow people to make us feel this way about ourselves or rather, why do people feel the need to make us feel this way?