An incerpt from Dr. Merritt Jones' "The Art of Being: 101 Ways to Practice Purpose in your Life", summarzed by me.
A student asked his teacher how to achieve true inner peace and freedom from emotional suffering.
His teacher said to him, "Go to the cemetery and curse at each person that lay in their graves. Tell them they are are stupid, that they will never amount to anything, and that their mother is ugly. After you have done this, go back again the next day and bless and praise each person in every grave, telling them how wonderful they are, that they are beautiful. Light a candle next to their site, calling them saints. Once you have done this, come back to me."
The student did as he was told, and returned to his teacher. The teacher asked the student "Well...what did they have to say about your opinions?"
Astounded, the student replied "How could they respond at all??! They could not hear a word I said, positive or negative."
His teacher replied, "When you too, do not hear what others have to say about you, positive or negative, you will know true inner peace and freedom from suffering."
~I just love this story. Isn't it amazing that we can go about our own business feeling confident about ourselves and what we're doing, but once someone says something negative about us, we seem to fall apart? Why do we let other people's perceptions or insecurities affect our life??
When you become mindful of your own true self, other people's opinions (nice OR nasty) are meaningless. YOU know who you really are and therefore there is no need to be defined by someone else. This does not mean you have to ignore compliments or criticism from others, but just be sure it does not become food for your ego.
You are unique and amazing. "Make the decision to not take anything personally, and then notice the inner peace that comes with that release."
Happy soul searching :)
