Lisa Vanderpump: Don't Doubt Yourself When You've Been Hurt

Well here we are once more, as we ring up the curtain on our seventh season...

I am still incredulous that the venture we jumped into all those years ago has almost become a way of life.

A way of life, that at times, as I have immersed myself completely, has had extraordinary ramifications, emotional challenges and incredible benefits. I feel the need to explain the dichotomy that I managed to reconcile after the battering I received last year.

It was a decision that was certainly influenced by the fact that my friend Dorit, who will be introduced tonight, was on board, on board the crazy train that I have ridden for perhaps 170 episodes, excluding Vanderpump Rules, by the end of this year.

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To have your life documented with such huge exposure also brings some amazing chances: We highlighted our fight against Yulin last year and continue to do so (I was truly grateful for the support we received around the world), stood up for gay rights each year on Vanderpump Rules, and witnessed marriage equality when I ordained a wedding two years ago. I reaped the benefits of this public platform and wholeheartedly took center stage.

So as I dipped my toe into the first day back with this group, encouraging Dorit, reassuring her that dinner with Kyle and Mauricio would be an enjoyable experience, I was excited to start all over again.

When Erika called me and invited me to her party, I responded positively, and she included Dorit as I was having lunch with her at the time. Time is the best healer as the old adage goes, but when Kyle states once again that I hold a grudge, it seems that maybe she has little understanding of the experience last year. I believe when somebody shows you who they are and viciously attacks you, relentlessly, you have good reason to remember, to embrace those feelings of trepidation in regard to bonding with that person again. That is not "holding a grudge," it is protecting yourself from the emotional lambasting I had endured from happening again...

I had licked my wounds and had thankfully been bolstered by the support from many of you. I knew meeting the other ladies again was potentially an uneasy experience, but many months had passed and Kyle, Dorit and I were going together, and I mustered up the courage to rejoin the group. Dorit was blissfully unaware of what had transpired last season, but she knew there were residual feelings and badgered me to explain the complicated scenario that had played out last year. I was resolute, so as not to be accused of "manipulation," and so she could garner her own understanding and judge the women from her own experience, but as she started to dance with all of them, I felt a tinge of remorse that I hadn't implored her to stay by my side. As the story unfolds, Dorit definitely forms her own opinions, which ultimately are a result of her personal interactions.

I had no alternative but join the group. I briefly engaged Rinna, who I believe not to be "manipulable" as Kyle alleges. I would argue the point that she is an erratic woman that needs to take responsibility for her own behavior. I am at a point with her where I can't resist a little provocation.

So as we danced to 80s music, I felt a sense of relief—almost cathartic—as I realized the only power people can exert over you is the power that you choose to give them.

Screw it, I was back and nobody, including Eileen Davidson, Lisa Rinna or Erika Jayne Girardi was taking that from me.

So to all of you, don't doubt yourself when you have been hurt. Validate your feelings, realize that experiences that provoke emotions are ones to learn by...And so be it, we soldier on...

So I bid you a productive week. This season can only be described as a glittering, tumultuous experience that is deliciously enriched by wonderful scenarios, captured for all to see, but also coupled with emotional dynamics as loyalties are divided and friendships challenged.

Hold my hand as we venture into Season 7, and let me know your thoughts and as always. I thank you for watching...Love Lisa.