Why Do We Let People Mistreat Us?

I have been mistreated before, everyone has. It’s just a part of life I guess. Normally there is always an assumption that there are just some people in this world that will take advantage of me and cause nothing but pain and misery. These people walk into my life for whatever reason and have no remorse for what they do. But that is how life is, right? I mean, some people are bad and some people are good. That is the way of the world.
But that is so entirely wrong. Dead wrong. I cannot even fathom how my old thinking about life is wrong. It has taken me five years to realize this, but I let people mistreat me. It is my decision. I let these people stroll into my life, set up shop right in the forefront of my mind and hook a cable directly into my brain letting them do whatever they feel like doing. They do not do that. I let them do that. This is the sad fact of life. It is not just me who lets this happen. We all let this happen. We let people mistreat us. We let people, use us, complain to us, and make us feel like we are not worth their time. Honestly, why?
Quite frankly, it is bullshit. It’s bullshit that we let these things happen to us for such an extended period of time. It can go on for years before we notice it. What keeps us from noticing this right away?
Regardless, I have come to a realization. I have spent years demonizing people because they were assholes and who mistreated me. Because they cheated on me, because they would only talk to me when they needed to complain. Absolutely they were scumbags. But it was also my fault too. I let this happen to me. I let them use me every single day. Not anymore.