Rejecting Injury
It’s painful when someone hurts or offends us. Perhaps physically, but definitely emotionally.
We have very vivid recollections of two types of people. The first are those who inspire, motivate, and believe in us. They leave us feeling empowered and eager to make an impact.
But the other group of people who often occupy our attention are those who cause us pain. Their disrespect and inappropriate behavior easily upset us, robbing us of peace.
But can they really take away our sense of peace?
No doubt people can be hateful and vicious. And their behavior may be awful and inappropriate.
However, it is completely up to us as to how we perceive the situation.
No one can make us feel a certain way. We get to choose our feelings and how we experience each event in the world.
So as Marcus Aurelius, the great Stoic philosopher (who also happened to be the Roman emperor for two decades), counsels us, by rejecting our sense of injury we can escape the trauma.
Eighteen hundred years after Marcus Aurelius, we read in A Course in Miracles the following passage:
No one can be angry at a fact. It is always an interpretation that gives rise to negative emotions.
So, the next time we’re tempted to point the accusing finger at someone and blame them for our pain, let’s try recalling these potent words and make a different choice.
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