Don’t Take This Personally, But
Don’t take this personally, but
Stop taking everything personally
You feel disrespected by how someone has treated you. Or perhaps you’re saddened that things didn’t work out as planned and you’re forced to move on with no closure. A feeling that can take these temporary ideas that were created to make sense of an interaction with another fellow person (and sometimes blow it completely out of proportion)—is a feeling of taking it personally.
We should never do this. Why? Because unless someone actually says it, like “I straight up feel a way about you, thus I’m treating you like this”… it’s hardly ever intentional. That’s right. Just because a person treats a situation in a way that you didn’t anticipate, doesn’t mean it’s your fault or that you actually have anything to do with it.
I know what some people may think—no, they definitely did this purposely. Yes, there are some people out there who can be ill-mannered intentionally. And there’s definitely the spiteful folks. Don’t take them personally either.
There’s a thing called projection. How we interact with someone is either a conscious or unconscious consequence of our own internal thoughts and experiences. Say someone expresses deep concern and fear about a trip you’re about to take. You have no fear whatsoever and feel pretty excited. That person may say things to suggest you won’t be safe, basically killing the positive vibes. They are projecting onto you terrible things that could go wrong on a trip, when really they had a bad experience and haven’t processed their feelings about it. A person’s projections have nothing to do with you or me. Projections can go both ways—you too have to be considerate of projecting onto other people also.
Don’t take this personally, but you need to stop things so personally. I had to recognize we’re all experiencing life differently and we may or may not know what someone is experiencing to make them act or exist in a certain way. Remove yourself as a main character in other people’s stories and focus on how you can be the main character in your own life.
Everyone has unique experiences that shape how they see the world and how they respond to others. Other people’s opinions and perception of you is none of your business. It only matters what YOU think of you. So stop taking things personally and keep it pushing.
Taylor
