Are you one of those persons who can receive a compliment from 9 people, but then 1 person says something negative and it ruins your day? I am. Or, at least I was. I am trying to become an “I was” in this instance, still working on it.
Why do we do it? Why do we allow that 1 negative comment to take us down? We just received 9 compliments for goodness sake!
For me, that negative comment becomes a huge banner waving high calling out “I am a failure”. I know in my head it is not true, but my heart won’t let it go.
It was when I finally realized I was giving power of MY life to THAT person. Why? I couldn’t come up with a good reason to the ‘why’ question. Many times that person doesn’t even know they hurt me. Sometimes they do it specifically to hurt. Either way, I cannot change them. I can only change my response.
The first time I chose to ignore my usual response was so hard, it hurt! Change is not easy. But then I tried it again. Over time it became easier. Sure, there were times I didn’t focus on the change and I accepted the pain of the words. That was one battle, not the war, I had to choose to brush it off and go on to the next one.
I am a work in progress and so is this change in my personal thinking. What is the value in the comment? What difference does it make to the world if someone doesn’t like my outfit, my hairstyle, what I chose to eat, or that I chose one activity over another. As long as I am living a life that is pleasing to God, nothing else matters.
I like the way Paul B. Evans describes reasons people don’t like us. It helps to take down that failure banner. CLICK HERE FOR HIS VIDEO ON HIS FACEBOOK PAGE.
If you are living a valuable life, someone will dislike you. That is okay. You are okay. I am okay.