What Others Think

"What other people think of you is none of your business." - Paulo Coelho

Do you find yourself constantly worrying about what others might be thinking of you? I know I, like many people, have often struggled with this. We assume we know, for a fact, what others are or aren't thinking. 

We worry that others are judging us on what we are doing or saying. So we become afraid to speak up, speak our mind, give our opinion and say what we truly think or believe. This can affect our ability to make clear decisions. Or we may end up doing something we didn't really want to do, as a result of the fear of what they might think. 

Or conversely we think that others aren't thinking about us at all, when we think they actually should be. Like if you ever sent someone a text or email and when they didn't respond right away you began thinking to yourself, "I wonder if they are mad at me?"

Granted sometimes these assumptions might be validated. But most of the times, in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is that in most cases people are generally more concerned with their own state, to be focused on forming their opinions about what you did, or are doing. Most of the time it is wasted worry. Everyone is dealing with their own lives and the things they have to deal with. They will normally be thinking about themselves, their own insecurities, not yours.

We should stop to remind ourselves about this or why we should even care what they think. But even so if they are judging you. Everybody has a right to their own opinion. Understand that you can't please everyone. It just isn't realistic or even possible. The people who really matter in your life will likely not judge you, and those who do likely don't matter that much to you. 

We should be more concerned with our own self-esteem, self-worth, self-appreciation, self-acceptance and really what we think and believe about ourselves. We need to practice self-love and appreciation. We need to give ourself a break. Focus in on what you can control, yourself. When you focus on living in the moment and doing whatever it is that brings you joy, that is a good place to start. Take time for yourself. Focus on the positive. Focus on what you are grateful for. Focus on your abilities. Focus on your goals and work toward achieving them. 

We will always have worries. The key is not letting them take over our lives and holding us back from doing what we know we need to and what we love. You'll never truly be happy if you constantly worried and concerned with what others think about you. You'll stop caring about what others think about you, when you stop to realize how seldom they actually do. Think for yourself, not of yourself, and think of others, but not for others. At the end of the day you have to live with you. Learn to trust yourself and be true to yourself.  Life is too short to be anything but happy. 

Make it great!

Curtis

"If you live for people's acceptance, you'll die from their rejection." - Lecrae