Difficult People (Part 1)

 Difficult People (Part 1)

Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."

Regardless of your age or social status, there will always be some difficult people out there who want nothing more than to bully and belittle you.  Sometimes they’re colleagues at work, sometimes they’re people in our neighborhoods, sometimes they’re those mean kids on the playground, or sometimes the one you would least likely expect to do something like that.

Just as difficult people will always exist in the world, so too will our power to choose how we respond to them. 

Do we let them make their pain our own? 

Do we choose to transform that pain into personal growth and strength? 

Do we let them win or do we choose to win?

It’s hard to make wise choices in the heat of the moment.  Yet, when you choose to win and transform pain into personal growth and strength, you aren’t just improving your own life, you’re also improving the lives of the people you love, and the people who look up to you.

With that said, however, sometimes handling difficult people and overcoming their attacks is very difficult. So let me share with you some words of hope that may help today.

Don't allow other people’s personal opinions devalue you.

You may not be able control all the things people say and do, but you can decide not to be affected by them.  The way people treat you is their problem, how you respond internally is yours.  What you need to remember is that the things people say and do to you is much more about them than you.  People’s reactions to you are about their perspectives, biases, and past experiences. 

Now, I’m not suggesting ignore all the opinions and commentary we receive from others.  I’m simply saying that incredible amounts of hurt, disappointment and sadness in our lives come directly from our tendency to take things too personally.  In most cases it’s far more productive and healthy to let go of other people’s good or bad opinions of you, and to operate with your own intuition and insight as your guide.