October 04 – Taking things too personally? Do you feel annoyed and irritated whenever someone does not agree with you, or when something doesn't occur exactly as you had hoped? Do you find yourself immediately being defensive or emotionally reactive in certain situations? Do you find yourself revisiting things that irritate or annoy you over and over in your mind or even with others to the point of distraction? What is occurring in all of these instances is that you are taking things too personally.
When someone disagrees with you, it is not an attack on you, it is merely their perspective. You can either accept what a person is saying to you or not accept it. In a majority of cases, it is not directed at you, but merely responding to you or sharing thoughts with you. Understand this and you can respond versus react and converse without feeling a need to defend. When something doesn't occur as you had hoped, it should not be viewed as an attack against you or an indication there is something wrong with you. It is merely transpiring as it needed to transpire. The different outcome may be trying to tell you that adjustments, more learning, more information, or a myriad of other things may be needed to succeed. When something continues to gnaw at you emotionally, it is a clear sign that you have made it about you and are allowing it to personally affect and impact you. This is neither productive nor energizing.
Take an MM&I Moment to awaken to why you may be in such an emotionally reactive or defensive state of mind. Are there particular situations or people that put you in this state of mind more than others? Why is this? List all the reasons to better explore what the root of your reactions may be. Could you possibly be jumping to conclusions or making assumptions? Take a moment to honestly ask yourself how you could potentially be jumping to conclusions or assuming and list them. Now take a step back and ask yourself how you could better respond versus react and understand versus assume. It is a wonderful quality to care and be emotionally invested in whatever you are trying to do. However, whenever your emotions begin to override your judgment and your ability to distinguish between what you believe is occurring versus what is actually occurring, take a deep breath and a step back. Allow yourself to fully see what is actually happening within you. Each time you do this, you will enhance your inner strength, while also making living your life and interacting with others easier all around.
Wide Awake Quote of the Week
"The least questioned assumptions are often the most questionable." - Paul Broca
Yours in dreaming WIDE awake,
P.S. Instead of assuming, how about anticipating in ways that empower you? Read this guest blog written a while ago entitled, 5 Ways to Harness Anticipation’s Power on Mike Dooley’s Thoughts Become Things blog.
