“Our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world as being able to remake ourselves.” -Gandhi
Have you ever done something with the best of intentions that you thought were generous and thoughtful and then had your motivation for doing what you thought was a good deed questioned. This very recently happened to me and I was accused of being selfish.
How did that make me feel? I became extremely angry. My positive intention had been misinterpreted and I had received a reaction that I didn’t think I deserved.
Initially I set out to try to get the people to acknowledge that they were wrong. This only served to bring up more frustration and hostility.
I have done a lot of reading around this and I think the line below by Lori Deschene best describes my feelings.
“We don’t have to fall victim to our instinctive emotional reactions. At any time, we can stop, assess what’s going on in our heads, and decide to respond a little more wisely based on what we know about ourselves.”
And that’s what I have done now. I know why I did what I did and no matter what anyone else thinks, I can live with myself. When you find yourself getting worked up about something, ask yourself how big a deal it really is, and remember it is what you think about yourself that is the most important thing.
This is my first meaningful post so would love to have some feedback.
*I totally agree!
Fully agree mate. I would add though, while the most important thing is what you think about yourself, it is nice to have someone or ones around you that support you for who and what you are. These are usually family and friends. True friends never judge, just support when required. They are always there when you need them and you know that they are with them saying a word. Experience has shown me they are very few in number but the most valuable thing you can have.
If we all stay true to who and what we are, the bumps in the road of life will make us wobble now and then but we will always stay on the right course.