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ng_moonmothInitial post on what I'm doing here.
44. Are there people in your life that bring you down, hold you back, or fail to bring you joy? If so, is there a way that you could rid them from your life or confront them with your problems?
I found myself really needing to work out what the question was asking before I could even begin to think about it. "People in my life" -- how many of the people you meet over the course of the day are actually "people in your life"? And "fail to bring you joy"? Isn't it kind of presumptive to believe that the responsibility of everyone in my life is to bring me personally joy, instead of doing whatever they need to do to keep their own lives running and happy? I wouldn't lay that on anyone. And what about "remove them from your life or confront them with your problems"? Is that really the only desirable outcome for someone who doesn't measure up?
So what I have decided to narrow this down to is asking oneself, "Are there people who wield negativity against you? If so, how do you plan to cope with their negativity?" And to that I answer: Yes, there are people who make negative comments to me or about things I value. And although I will let them know that these comments are contrary to my own beliefs, and will gladly have a conversation on the topic, I will disempower their negativity by not allowing it to have any impact on me. As for expelling them from my life, I see no reason to do so just because they are unhappy enough with how I live and what I do to let me know that; I will just avoid such issues in future exchanges. And I have paid professionals who get to help me deal with my problems; I don't need or want to lay that on others.
44. Are there people in your life that bring you down, hold you back, or fail to bring you joy? If so, is there a way that you could rid them from your life or confront them with your problems?
I found myself really needing to work out what the question was asking before I could even begin to think about it. "People in my life" -- how many of the people you meet over the course of the day are actually "people in your life"? And "fail to bring you joy"? Isn't it kind of presumptive to believe that the responsibility of everyone in my life is to bring me personally joy, instead of doing whatever they need to do to keep their own lives running and happy? I wouldn't lay that on anyone. And what about "remove them from your life or confront them with your problems"? Is that really the only desirable outcome for someone who doesn't measure up?
So what I have decided to narrow this down to is asking oneself, "Are there people who wield negativity against you? If so, how do you plan to cope with their negativity?" And to that I answer: Yes, there are people who make negative comments to me or about things I value. And although I will let them know that these comments are contrary to my own beliefs, and will gladly have a conversation on the topic, I will disempower their negativity by not allowing it to have any impact on me. As for expelling them from my life, I see no reason to do so just because they are unhappy enough with how I live and what I do to let me know that; I will just avoid such issues in future exchanges. And I have paid professionals who get to help me deal with my problems; I don't need or want to lay that on others.
