Honestly. Sometimes I feel like I'm right back in high school.
"Did he say something about me?"
"I heard so-and-so said that he said you weren't talking to him."
And on and on. What are we, thirteen years old?
This evening, I got broadsided by someone who doesn't know me very well at all, but thinks that he does because he hears what people he knows say about me - and based on their interpretation of what I'm about, he felt he had the right to tear a strip off me.
I've spent nearly the last four years learning to let go of my need to control things and people, and some lessons have been harder than others.
One of the hardest has been when other people lie about me or have an opinion of me that is less than I would like - even if I don't particularly like them... and they spread their poison and infect others with their particular viewpoint. That's what happened here.
I'd had a hard week, just coming back from being sick for nearly two weeks, having to make up some time that I lost with very few physical resources left.
So, I reacted. I told him what the truth was, and in no uncertain terms. He'll probably never want to speak to me again. For about a half-hour afterward, I was agitated, pacing the floor, not able to let go. Then my hubby (bless him!) reminded me of something I'd forgotten, a quote worth remembering.
"What other people think about me is none of my business." ~ Simon Cowell
This is one of those "things I cannot change." I told the truth, and whether I'm believed or not has nothing to do with it. I just have to let it go and remember that I'm not responsible for what other people think about me or say about me. I just need to live my life and let others live theirs.
Live and let live. One day at a time. Serenity to Accept what I cannot Change - which I just don't have in myself. So I ask for it - and I say Please. And it comes ... if I allow it to come. (I'm reminded of a poster my therapist had on his wall - "Today is a good day ... unless I make other plans.")
And what IS my business? Changing what I Can Change - which takes Courage that I don't have - so that's why I ask for it.
And that comes too. One Day - One Minute at a Time.
"Did he say something about me?"
"I heard so-and-so said that he said you weren't talking to him."
And on and on. What are we, thirteen years old?
This evening, I got broadsided by someone who doesn't know me very well at all, but thinks that he does because he hears what people he knows say about me - and based on their interpretation of what I'm about, he felt he had the right to tear a strip off me.
 |
| Me after a wisdom tooth extraction last year, "warts and all." |
I've spent nearly the last four years learning to let go of my need to control things and people, and some lessons have been harder than others.
One of the hardest has been when other people lie about me or have an opinion of me that is less than I would like - even if I don't particularly like them... and they spread their poison and infect others with their particular viewpoint. That's what happened here.
I'd had a hard week, just coming back from being sick for nearly two weeks, having to make up some time that I lost with very few physical resources left.
So, I reacted. I told him what the truth was, and in no uncertain terms. He'll probably never want to speak to me again. For about a half-hour afterward, I was agitated, pacing the floor, not able to let go. Then my hubby (bless him!) reminded me of something I'd forgotten, a quote worth remembering.
"What other people think about me is none of my business." ~ Simon Cowell
This is one of those "things I cannot change." I told the truth, and whether I'm believed or not has nothing to do with it. I just have to let it go and remember that I'm not responsible for what other people think about me or say about me. I just need to live my life and let others live theirs.
Live and let live. One day at a time. Serenity to Accept what I cannot Change - which I just don't have in myself. So I ask for it - and I say Please. And it comes ... if I allow it to come. (I'm reminded of a poster my therapist had on his wall - "Today is a good day ... unless I make other plans.")
And what IS my business? Changing what I Can Change - which takes Courage that I don't have - so that's why I ask for it.
And that comes too. One Day - One Minute at a Time.
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