Someone said something unkind about me. Are my feelings hurt? Yes. Should they be? No. How do I overcome my hurt? By detaching myself, "turning off", until I can figure out what lies behind it. If it was retaliation for an unkindness I did, let me correct my fault if not, I have no reponsiblity in the matter. Should I ignore or challenge? No, I iwll let it go; least said, soonest mended. Nothing can hurt me unless I allow it to. When I am pained by anything that happens outside of myself, it is not that thing which hurts me, but the way I think and feel about it.
Let me not take to myself, and suffer over, the actions and reactions of other people. Other adult human beings are not my responsiblilty, no matter how closely their lives may be interwined with mine. I will not allow myself to be troubled by anyone else; my one problem is to improve my own way of living and looking at life.
"God teach me to detach my mind from what others say and do, except to draw helpful lessons and guidance from them."
