"Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me." We all know that little ditty from our childhood.
Unfortunately, for many, words can actually hurt more than physical pain.
It's hard to not react when someone says something mean or hurtful. Especially when it's a 'so-called' friend. I don't know about you, but my first reaction is to question the person, try to find out what prompted the hateful words. I'm not a fighter, so firing back with more nastiness isn't my way; I just have a hard time letting it go, and I keep digging and questioning and trying to find logic in the situation, when often there is none to be found. Some people are just nasty.
When I can't get a satisfactory answer from the perpetrator, I end up even more hurt and resentful, and have a hard time letting it go in my head and the hurtful words go round and round in my brain and the negativity tries to take over my mood. But, in those moments, I do my best to remind myself that my peace of mind is more important than someone's unkind words. Take a deep breath, exhale and let go of the negative thoughts. Restrain from lowering yourself to the level of the unkind person, sit back and let it go. Your life is better off without unkind, hateful, hurtful people, and in the long run, you will be happier with them out of your life. Never forget that they have probably justified their words or actions in their own mind, and may not even feel they did anything wrong. You will never convince them otherwise, so let them go. Move on.
Find people who build you up instead of tearing you down. Find people who love you for you, not the you they want you to be. I am far from perfect, but I love the ones I love fiercely and completely and I expect the same in return. So, yes, be logical and don't react with emotion, but also don't try to find reason or logic in mean people. Just smile, tell them to have a nice life, and move on. There are plenty of people worthy of your love and time.
Remember that words only have power over you if you allow them, and say to yourself, "Words will never hurt me."
