Taking Offense
This has been on my heart to write about for a while now.
I learned the concept in therapy, to assume that those that love and care about us have good intentions and aren’t specifically out to hurt us.
Inevitably in any relationship, feelings get hurt and offenses do happen. But I don’t think they need to happen as much as they do. And I think that text and email have contributed to an increase in misunderstandings and offenses.
If you find yourself taking offense easily, or feeling like people close to you don’t like you or are purposely out to hurt you, I highly encourage you to seek therapy. This can be a trauma response resulting from unhealed emotional or psychological issues.
This is really the first step, because what I’m about to share next wouldn’t have helped me before I did my own self-healing.
You need to believe in yourself and see yourself as a good person, worthy of love and kindness.
You ARE!
You are a good person, worthy of love and kindness, in case no one has told you lately (or maybe ever, if you grew up in a broken or abusive home.)
Ultimately, we cannot control other peoples actions or words, but we can control how we respond and react.
If someone says something or does something that feels hurtful, learn to communicate that in a kind way. It will do wonders for your healthy relationships, and it will help weed out relationships that may be unhealthy, the people that may not have reached the same level of emotional maturity as you have yet.
And if there’s room for doubt or interpretation in what someone meant by a particular text or email, try assuming that they had good intentions instead of taking offense and possibly saying or doing something hurtful in retaliation.
Let me know what you think about this concept, and if you try it, I’d love to hear how it goes in the comments!
You need to believe in yourself and see yourself as a good person, worthy of love and kindness.
You ARE!
You are a good person, worthy of love and kindness, in case no one has told you lately (or maybe ever, if you grew up in a broken or abusive home.)
Ultimately, we cannot control other peoples actions or words, but we can control how we respond and react.
If someone says something or does something that feels hurtful, learn to communicate that in a kind way. It will do wonders for your healthy relationships, and it will help weed out relationships that may be unhealthy, the people that may not have reached the same level of emotional maturity as you have yet.
And if there’s room for doubt or interpretation in what someone meant by a particular text or email, try assuming that they had good intentions instead of taking offense and possibly saying or doing something hurtful in retaliation.
Let me know what you think about this concept, and if you try it, I’d love to hear how it goes in the comments!
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