Why other people’s opinion matter for us. And why shouldn’t
22 November 2022 Estimated time: ~2 min.
Every opinion we hear forces us to question whether or not it expresses a truth and whether we resonate with it. And sometimes opinions hurt.
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "No one can make you feel inferior unless you let them." It may be hard to believe, given that we don’t consciously feel that way, but psychologists believe that sometimes the behavior of around us is a mirror of what we feel about ourselves.
Mirror reactions
For example, when you encounter a boss who undervalues your work and frequently criticizes you, or someone else have bad things to say about the way you look, these are only reflections of what you, somewhere inside, believe about yourself.
On the other hand, when you always receive compliments and respect from the people you meet, it means that you love and respect yourself and that’s what you radiate to the Universe.
The world’s opinion is not absolute truth
One of the biggest mistakes we make is to consider the opinions of those around us, especially those that concern us, as absolute truths. If we are told that our haircut does not look good, that we do not have beautiful legs, or that the cake we prepared is not delicious, the healthiest thing for us would be to treat all these as opinions and not as letters of the law.
You love your haircut and that’s all that matters, you love your legs and no one has the right to take that away from you. As for the cake... Chocolate ice cream isn’t to everyone’s taste either, and that doesn’t mean it isn’t delicious!
We all have the right to our opinions and under no circumstances can we think alike, nor would it be healthy to be like that! However, we must not get to the point where our personal opinions significantly affect a person.
You have the power!
Many of the statements of those around us can hurt us, destroy our self-esteem, weaken our self-confidence and even lead to constant depression and unhappiness.
We can’t program people to tell us only what we like to hear, nor live in constant conflict, but what we can do is build our own respect and self-esteem so that any outside opinion hits a wall.
You must know yourself best, know what you want, what you feel, what you can or cannot do, with or without external validation. The rest are just appreciations that only you give power to if you let them influence you!
