I hate to be the bearer of bad news but honey everyone is NOT going to like you. And what business is it of yours?

Here is the thing. If you treat people with dignity and respect, help people when you can, do your best to keep your nose clean; then your conscience should be clear on this matter. You can have confidence that you haven’t done anything wrong. Life is not a popularity contest. Do what’s right and let the chips fall where they may.

Let’s be real. We aren’t on an island by ourselves, we need people. But not at the expense of our mental health and our peace. This is why it is important to love those that love you. These fly-by-night friendships and family members are good for the holiday gatherings; but not your day-to-day life.

Many of us like to rid ourselves of negative or damaging relationships; but for me, I like to do what that ole adage says. “To keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” I don’t delete or unfriend folks unless it’s a really bad situation which is usually not the case.

I don’t mind folks having access to me even though they don’t really like me. Listen…maybe I can be the light for that person. Maybe they’ve never seen or experienced someone that stayed. They may be used to running people off. As a result, my staying may interest them and encourages them to really get to know me and try to discover what keeps me going in the positive direction.

They may not like you but that doesn’t hinder their ability to see the God in you. And to be honest, that may be the very reason for their discourse. God’s hedge around you.

Ever ask someone why they didn’t like someone else? Ever notice how vague their response is? They say things like, “I don’t know, there is just something about them that I don’t like.” When I hear things like this, it confirms to me that they don’t have a reason or anything substantial.

So why lose sleep over people disliking you for GP…General purposes? Why waste your time? Just call them Mr. or Mrs. Simpleton and go on with your life. Simple folks operate off of feelings and rarely or never take the time to analyze their feelings. They take the easy way out. Instead of getting to know you or giving you a fair chance, they’d rather just label you. Anytime we don’t understand something, we label it.

Keep that in mind. Understand it. It’s just the way of life. So don’t let it get you down. When I realize someone doesn’t like me, I remind myself, “They won’t be the first ones to not like me, and they won’t be the last.”

Thanks for your attention. Remember you are your own competition.

Competitionof1