There are still times when people hurt my feelings, but then I remember that I can choose whether to be hurt or to ‘get over it.’ I can believe the best or I can believe the worst, so why not believe the best and enjoy my day? – Joyce Meyer Power Thoughts pg. 132 (I am sooo loving this book)
Have you ever considered that the person you are so upset with, who you believe has done you ‘sooo’ wrong may actually NOT have a clue that they’ve upset you? Or maybe you’ve taken what they have said the wrong way, or maybe you are thinking the ‘worst’ of them?!?!??!
I KNOW I KNOW…. this is NOT what you want to be thinking when someone has upset you, or your feelings have been hurt/offended, BUT if you’re intention is to mature, and grow emotionally to a place where other people no longer control your feelings, mood or outlook, then give ‘thinking the best of others’ a try.
I find this works best with people you have a long standing and solid relationship with. Ideally the goal is to get to the place where you think the ‘best’ of most of not all people, but beginning with those you already care for and are close to you is a great place to start.
For example, I find that with my husband I have gotten easily offended by actions he takes that are truly (in retrospect) accidental and not intended to hurt my feelings or offend me. In the moment I have found myself flaring up, but then after I’ve cooled down (AND THIS HAPPENS EEEEEEEEEEVERY TIME) I realize that it was not done intentionally to cause harm, and I realize that in the ‘heat of the moment’ I thought the ‘worst’ instead of the ‘best’ where he was concerned…. L
If you have an experience like this, where you have (in retrospect) realized that the person you were upset with didn’t in fact intend on causing you harm, then I encourage you to do what you can to ‘remember’ that discovery and make a concerted effort to consider that this new upsetting situation might also be one like that.
Thinking the ‘best’ of others doesn’t mean that you live in a bubble or fantasy world. It just means that you are making a choice to BELIEVE in the good vs. the bad, and keep your focus on the positives in others rather than the potential negative.