“Your failures won’t hurt you until you start blaming them on others.” -Anonymous
There could be over 1000 things on the list of what people do to other people to make them feel bad, change their lives in some way, hurt their feelings, or cause them any kind of upset, anxiety, depression, shock, pain, loss etc.
They can lie to you or about you. They can stab you in the back or betray you. They can leave you or cheat on you. They can demean you or ruin your reputation. They can be nasty and mean or dismissive and arrogant. They can damage your property or steal from you. They can be selfish, uncaring, disrespectful, unloving, vengeful, rude and on and on.
They can do all of these things to you from the outside, but you are the only one who can control what goes on from the inside. Whatever anyone does to you doesn’t matter as much as how you choose to react to it.
They can’t take away your character, your peace of mind, your integrity or your beliefs. They can’t take away what you think!
If you’ve ever read Victor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, you will find the truth of one of the greatest gifts you have. After surviving the concentration camps of the Holocaust he said, “Everything can be taken from a man but the last of the human freedoms; to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
Many people waste their life blaming other people for their circumstances. They believe if this person didn’t do this or that to me I would have a great life. They wallow in their misery by what they think and say to themselves about the other person and what happened and they keep themselves bound and tied to the past.
The sad thing is that some people don’t realize that other people can and will do things that hurt them but ultimately it’s you that hurts yourselves more by holding onto what happened, why, when and how.
As soon as you realize that no one can hurt you without your permission and that it’s you that either chooses to continue to let the wounds fester or you choose the kinds of thoughts that will heal you from the inside out, is the time you can move on to live the life you want and leave the past behind.
People will come and go in your life doing things to you that you wish they hadn’t but in the end it’s you that does it to yourself by what you choose to believe, think and say about anything.
Do you want to find out more about how to stop wasting your time and begin living your best life now. Roland’s work has inspired people from all over the world to take back their power! You have the power to take your life in any direction you choose. So what is your choice?
Think. Grow. Live!
Roland N. Gilbert
Roland works one-on-one – via phone and face-to-face – and with MasterMind Groups. Through Couples Coaching Roland helps clients communicate better, find the love they want, and create relationships of significance. Contact Roland at 800-974-3692 or rgilbert@perennialgrowth.com to determine if coaching is right for you.
