Don't Take Anything Personal

 There's a great quote by Don Miguel Ruiz (author of one of my favourite books of all time, "The 4 Agreements") that I love - the quote reads:

‘’Don’t Take Anything Personally. Nothing that others do is because of you. What others say & do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions & actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.’’

See, one of the biggest forms of all human suffering is the kind that comes from the negative opinions, judgements, criticism & hate from others...

For example, other people will say things like...

'you’re ugly'

'you’re dumb'

'your voice sounds horrible'

'you’re such a failure'

'your opinion is stupid'

'you’ll never achieve that dream'

However, it's not these words on their own that hurt us...

Rather, it's how we interpret them...

If we take them personally & assume that there is truth to what they are saying, only then do we feel terrible...

Of course, you can flip this (& become largely immune to this needless suffering that comes from situations like these) by understanding & reminding yourself of this 1 simple fact:

What others say (& do) has very little to do with us.

For example, we’ve all seen someone lash out at someone else...

...for no other reason than simply because they were in a bad mood at that time...

‘Why can’t you ever do anything right?’ a parent might say to a child in anger, although in reality, they’re saying this as a way to process their own emotions...

As the saying goes...

'Hurt People, Hurt People.'

Another example is when someone does not have all of the information & just assumes what someone else did is wrong - this is a common storyline...

Or... even if someone does genuinely mean what they say, what they're saying is more so a projection of their own beliefs about beauty, about intelligence, career, success & life than anything to do with us...

What they are saying is not personal; it’s just their "point of view".

Take a look at this picture...

People will criticism, condemn & even kill over their own "point of view"... failing to understand that almost everything in life comes back to PERSPECTIVE.

(& it's ok for someone else to have a different perspective than we have).

Objective truth is rare.

Subjective reality is common & it's what primarily runs our everyday thoughts, feelings, decisions & our interactions with others.

And so, the next time you hear someone say anything "mean", judge you, criticize you in some way...

...instead of feeling bad about it (out of instinct; impulse)...

...instead, take a step back, remember this & don't let it ruin your day!

Hope this message serves as a powerful reminder for you today :)