#343 – What do you expect will happen when people "hate" you?
You don't die when your "hater" drinks poison
If what other people thought of you impacted your life in real ways, you might be dead by now––or at least pushing a cart and sleeping under a bridge.
But you know that's not how it works. You know that people's thoughts can't touch you. And yet, you keep trying to manipulate them. You want everyone around you to see you under a favorable light.
It's not a relationship problem: it's a PR problem. You don't care about losing the love of others, you care about losing face with them.
That's what I realized this morning, when I heard a voice inside saying, "you should respond to their comment."
My mental ears perked up: I knew my Ego, the self-appointed reputation manager, was behind the "should." I asked the Ego and the Ghosts to show up to see whom I needed to confront.
Like cockroaches when you turn on the lights, they rushed to their hidden corners. Then, I was able to investigate what was going on in my mind without their fingers poking me around.
Why would I care what other people thought of me? Without the Ego present, no reason whatsoever.
Other people's thoughts can't harm me, as harsh and hateful as they might be. Their judgment of my behavior, looks, or ideas is innocuous to me.
What harms me is my own judgment––of myself and others. My harsh and hateful thoughts towards myself and others. The insincerity with which I bend backwards to ensure approval.
If I drink poison, it's me who dies.
Whose approval will you stop looking for?
Love,
Carolina