I really couldn’t care less about what you or others say or think about me!
Now, don’t get me wrong – It’s not that I don’t want to be liked or well thought of. But I’ve decided that what you think or say shouldn’t determine who I am, how I think about myself, or even how I respond to you.
Do you know anyone who worries about what others think, or is still mad at someone else for something they said many years ago? Yeah, me too.
The subject came up recently in our family, as one of our kids was angry at another over something that was said about them. To my wife and me, the person who was angry should have had a sense of humor and just shrugged it off. Instead, he allowed it to consume him, and he sought revenge. It wasn’t big revenge…just little nit-picky stuff that showed he still had a chip on his shoulder.
Years ago, one of my mentors gave me two thoughts on this issue that have guided me to this day. He said:
- Regard less what others say, do and think, and instead focus on what God says, and what you know to be true. The only thing that matters is the truth.
- Remember that when you allow yourself to become angry at what someone else says about you or does to you, you give them power and control over you.
I reminded my child a
bout a story book we have, written by Max Lucado, called You Are Special. It is about some wooden people called Wemmicks who were made by a woodcarver named Eli.
Most all of the Wemmicks have dots or stars on their bodies, which were put there by others. Stars mean that someone likes you. Dots mean that someone doesn’t. One Wemmick, Punchinello, had a lot of dots, which troubled him greatly.
One day Punchinello met a woman named Lucia. She had no dots or stars. He asked her why not and she said it’s because she goes to see Eli the wood carver every day. She suggested that if Punchinello wanted to get rid of his dots, he should go and see Eli too.
So he goes to meet Eli, and asks him why the dots and stars don’t stick to Lucia. Eli replied that Lucia knows that what Eli thinks about her, as her creator, is much more important than what others think about her.
Then he told Punchinello that the dots and stars only stick if you let them.
Are you letting others have control over you by how you respond to their words or actions? If so, remember that how you think, and what you know to be true, is more important than what others think and do. They only have power and control over you if you let them.
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sweet story. thanks for that.