I was driving down the street today, and apparently the passenger in the car next to me thought I was too close. He was probably right. I moved over, and afterwards he started to yell at me. Luckily his driver was going much faster than I was, and so he was gone before I could hear much of his tirade.
Things like that get to me… Random acts of rudeness.
Like the person who came to look at our house and criticized the location of Mae’s crib.
Like the person who made the snarky comment to me because of a toddler meltdown.
Like the people who yell while refusing to listen.
These situations make me shake inside. I start to feel sick. I start to ruminate.
It’s because I feel silenced. I can’t defend myself because the person has driven away or has walked away or has shut their ears to any dissenting voice.
They deposit venom and it sits in me. An undesired gift, and unwanted visitor.
But what all of these people have in common is a desire to spread darkness and anger and aggression and negative energy. A desire to infect with venom. A desire to dim the light.
And the thing is that just because they shoot negativity doesn’t mean I have to absorb it. They want to infect, but I can deflect.
Refuse to take it in.
Refuse to contemplate.
Refuse to make it my own.
Other people’s venom is their venom. If they choose, they can infect their lives with it. They can swim in it, bathe in it, luxuriate in it.
But for me and mine, I choose light.
We gain power when we realize another’s anger and opinions don’t belong to us. We gain nothing by falling victim. We prove nothing when we defend. We win nothing when we refuse to let go.
We need to walk away. Look above and look within.
And give them back their dark, unopened and unabsorbed.
We were given a light and its our duty to protect it.
So to angry comments and bitter remarks, to anger and to blame, to accusations and to aggression, I say
You don’t belong to me. You are not mine. My time and energy and attention belong to the light.
I hope you find peace.