Pick your battle wisely!

Every day, we have aspects of life we like and others we do not like. There will always be people who will not always agree with some aspects of what we stand for. If we decide to fight, to strive for perfection then, we will always find ourselves fighting battles for the better part of our lives.

There are times in our lives when we find that there is a particular person or group of people that are thorn in our lives and see nothing good in whatever we do. This kind of person or group might be a colleague, boss, neighbour, friend or surprisingly even your spouse. They always give negative remarks about you which often times tend to reduce your self esteem. Dealing with people who put you down is a tedious and hard task, but then you have no choice than to find a means of putting up with their negative criticisms which can leave an everlasting scar in your life.

Life is full of challenges, so in the various chapters you will meet people who will definitely look down upon you. So the best thing is to learn how to live and deal with them prior to interacting with them. Most experience with those who criticize others is that they are deeply unhappy and have low self esteem and are sometimes very depressed. When people are depressed, the world becomes very dark for them and they seem to see the enemy everywhere. Some people who tend to look down on others only do so because they are jealous of the person’s achievement and progress in life and they are deeply resented by it and feel looking down on them is the only way to get back at them and make them feel less important.

You need to know that a happy and self confident person does not look down on others. They are likely to provide constructive and positive criticism. People do so because they need to make themselves feel that they are better off and in control. In an office environment it is worse as they seem to criticise everything that you do and are first to complain that you are of no worth or use. Such people stand out as they are the first to blow their trumpet and not allowing people to do the commendation based on what they have observed. In such situation, it is important not to let them get the better part of yourself worth and get you down. And remember if you are in any way at an advantage over them, it will always speak for you without you uttering a word.

When someone criticises you, you will equally want to do same and get your pound of flesh. It will be wiser and more mature to fight back that urge as it does not solve the problem but only creates a vicious cycle. It would be better to try to understand their motivations or why they are predisposed to being critical and cynical about you. If the person is becoming a thorn in your flesh, it is best you let them know that you do not appreciate their constant “pickiness”. Do not let it get into an argument; just let them know that you would prefer if they let you be.  Getting into an argument is just giving them more room to justify that they are really hurting you.

Having it at the back of your mind that you are better and more resourceful than you know is a thought that will always keep you well ahead of your critics. When one is cynical about you, the problem is not with you but with them. Either way, they are the ones that are unhappy and depressed, insecure and suffering from low self esteem issues. You can either decide to ignore them or help them overcome their misery. Life is too short to make enemies of friends, so the best thing is to ignore their ices and forge ahead with life. In essence do not give them the power to ridicule you, let no one stand in your way of progress. Fight your battle wisely.

The only way to live peacefully is to decide which battles are worth fighting and which are better left alone. You do not need to fight every battle to prove a point. The more you fight the more people lose confidence in you and you start to look more of the trouble shooter than the victim. So choose and fight your battle wisely!