“We often feel wounded by what we feel to be the unfairness or ignorance of others. In response, we could toughen our skin in order not to feel things so deeply, and become more cynical about life. Or, we might just give up asserting ourselves and become a doormat for others. Or, we could become hypersensitive and react against every perceived slight. All these options essentially make us the passive victims of life, and there is no greater block to harmony and peace than obsessive victimhood. As the fourteenth-century Indian Sufi Nizamuddin Auliya once said:
‘If someone places a thorn in your way and you place another thorn in his way, there will be thorns everywhere.’”
~ Neil Douglas-Klotz, The Sufi Book of Life
It’s not the actions of others but our judgment of those actions that wounds us. So notice your immediate reaction, my friend, and pause before you respond.
There are countless perspectives from which we can view every situation. And though you think you might, there is no way that you can be absolutely sure of all of the motives behind someone’s actions.
Try on as many perspectives as you need and see if you can’t find one that will aid you in releasing the judgment that’s caused the pain. This is all it takes to shift from being a victim to being empowered, my friend, and it can happen in a flash!