As little girls growing up, we all want one thing: to be accepted. As we get older and advance into our teen and adult years, we want to be liked. When that doesn’t happen, especially during our formative years, it tends to leave a scar of sorts that tells us we aren’t good enough, for whatever reason.
The truth is, though, that you are good enough, and not everyone in your life is going to like you. Whether it’s because of who you are, how you look, or your perceived/achieved level of success, there will always be a reason, and chances are, that reason has absolutely nothing to do you.
Still, at one point or another, we will each encounter someone who remains hyper-focused on us for negative reasons. Once someone focuses like that, with jealousy, they can never let it go. It becomes a force they must feed, kind of like a blood lust.
So, what do you do about it? You let go of others’ opinions and start accepting your Self.
I know it hurts your feelings, but you must recognize and accept that you cannot be everything to everyone all the time. You can’t even be everything to some people some of the time. The only thing you can do is take care of you and be what you need for yourself. You are the only one who can provide yourself with the type of care and attention your mind, body, and spirit need, and only you know what that looks like. Only you know your truth, not others.
Sometimes, we must make that difficult choice in life to walk away from people who disrespect us and/or drain our energy. When we don’t walk away or set boundaries, it says to others that you not only allow but also accept negative treatment, and that’s not the message you want to be sending.
Letting go is never easy, but it’s crucial to do in order to live a stress-free life. We don’t let go for other people. We let go for our own good, our own health. See, stress and negativity manifest as physical, mental, and emotional symptoms that, when left untreated, tend to form blockages in the body that manifest later in life as illness, disease, and dis-ease.
All those knots that burn and ache in your neck, shoulders, hips, and back? While some can be traced to old injuries, most come from poor posture as a result of stored stress, stored traumas, and stored negative emotions. Don’t believe me? Research the book The Body Keeps the Score.
It’s important to know when to let go, and if you aren’t sure, trust what your body is telling you. If you’re always feeling nervous, sick, insignificant, insecure, etc. around someone, pay attention to that. What are those feelings trying to tell you? Also, the location of those feelings in your body matters, too.
Never disregard what aches or evokes emotion and feeling in your body. These are clues your body is using to communicate with you, and when you ignore them and try to shove them down or cover them up, they only strengthen.
In case no one has ever told you, your life should be built upon people and things that support your highest and greatest good, and the only person whose opinion about you matters is yours!
Accept the Self and the fact that it’s okay (and imperative) to let go of all that no longer serves you in a positive manner, then do that. Just like Bob Wiley (Bill Murray) in What About Bob?, take those little baby steps all the way up to the big step, and you’ll be fine.
When you let go of that which is unhealthy, unwanted, and unnecessary, you create space in your life for all that’s meant to be a blessing to enter.
