Evolving Rebellion

I have this pair of panties, have probably had them ten years.  They are a sad faded purple color.  Still they are among my faves.  When I fist got them they had REBEL spelled out in a sparkly sequiny concoction across the back.  Don't scoff, I'm sure they came out of the sale bin.

I'm pretty sure the manufacturers meant this as a noun - as in I'm such a rebel I will brandish the word on my ass.  But I always took it for a verb - as in to rebel against the status quo.  Similar, but not quite.  Thing is ten years ago when those drawers were still vibrant and sparkly, that word suited my personality.  I was a bitch on a mission and would argue till my last phoneme what I believed.  Thing is, all that arguing got me nowhere and made me dreadfully unhappy.

I have taught myself to choose my battles now according to the possibility of change present.  If it is just arguing with neither side listening, I can't really get into it and will walk away.  If it is a real dialogue angled toward compromise I may join in.  The only exception are things that I feel very strongly about.  VERY strongly. There are fewer of these than before.  Most things that have touched my life personally - rape, incest, literacy, women's rights, science.

Just in case you think I made this shit up,
I included a photo of the drawers in question.

I'm doing laundry today and having just folded those beloved drawers.  I noticed that most of the sparklies have fallen off.  Now they just kinda say BE.  I like that evolution.  Oh you can still see where the REBEL was in the fabric.  But there is something comforting in changing the internal message from REBEL to BE.