Tuesday, May 18, 2010

My response.

They say that words can cut deeper and hurt much more than physical pain.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Physical wounds heal and our body adapts to the pain.

Wounds of the heart and mind are a whole different story.

Over the weekend some things were said about me and my family. I would be lying if I said I wasn't affected by the judgmental, thoughtless and rude opinions and remarks said.

I reacted.

I hate that I reacted, but I am human. I was angry, I cried and let my thoughts go down a path of self doubt.

What if those opinions of me were true?

Going down that path believing what was said about me would eat at me. As do most negative thoughts. They eat at you bit by bit. They consume you and before you know it that negativity has won the battle--gotten the best of you.

Or I could say NO.

No I will not let one opinion get the best of me. I will not hold harsh feelings towards that person. I will move forward and onward because there is something to be learned. There is room for me to grow, stretch, become humbled and become better.

Growing up my dad had the book, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl.

He would always talk about Dr. Frankl, a Jewish holocaust survivor.

He would tell me how this man was in the worst of circumstances and how his attitude and reaction essentially saved his life.

My dad has read me this quote many times over the years and it has stayed with me time and time again.


Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.

~ Viktor E. Frankl ~


Lessons learned:

There are dumb people sometimes.
I choose how to respond.
The golden rule is so powerful. Treat others as you would want to be treated.

and now...forward and onward.

6 comments:

  1. what a great post, bev. thanks for sharing. so sorry that some people are so dumb sometimes. don't be too hard on yourself for reacting. like you said, we're all human. and really, look at what you took away from the experience. love you and your family too! :)

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  2. You are a good person, Bev.

    I love the quote by Frankl.

    I don't know why people have to put out such negative karma. It's really hard not to respond--especially in defense of those we love! But you're right, our response makes a big difference in how we ourselves feel about the situation.

    Oh, but easier said than done! :)

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  3. Sorry you had a bad weekend! I don't know if this will make you feel better but when I was visiting Devry in NC last week we were talking about you & how dang cute your style is!!!!

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  4. Bev, I think you are one of the best people I know and I'm a better person for knowing you! It's hard to let things like that roll off your back, so do you want me to go beat someone up? :)

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  5. Thanks to each of you and your kind thoughts and words of encouragement. I sincerely blog as an outlet for myself and it's my journal of sorts--aka a nice form of therapy for myself. To get feedback is an added treat/bonus for me.

    So from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU!

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  6. Hi Bev...So this last weekend this neighbor (who is basically a stranger) came over and ripped into my kind-hearted Chuche over absolutely nothing. OOH...I was MAD. How dare she, right?! I had strong feelings of hate. Then I thought of this post. It helped. Thanks.

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