Why Do You Care What They Think?
There’s a moment that almost everyone remembers from their childhood. They have just received something they really liked--a new shirt, a new toy, a haircut they thought was cooland showed up for school with it...only to be mercilessly teased and mocked for it. Such experience have taken many joys from the moment
If this was simply a thing of a child, it would be one thing. But the truth is that we carry this attitude with us into adulthood. It never ceases to amaze me. We all love ourselves more than other people, but care about their opinion more than our own.
We are proud of the job we did until our insecure boss attacks us for it. We are excited about the book or movie until we read the reviews from the critics. we never stop to consider whether these people have any credibility, whether they even know what they’re talking about. Suddenly, because they commented about something we care about or are sensitive to, we believe them more than we believe ourselves. And then we are miserable.
This is no way to live. We must cultivate our own high standards, own strong opinions about what is right and good and important. This is what we need to use to evaluate reality. Other people’s opinions? We need to stop caring about them. Or, at the very least, we cannot give them the power to make us miserable, or to question ourselves. It is not their judgment that should be guiding our minds .
It’s our life. It’s our opinion. That’s what matters.
