One trick I am going to try using is Act the way you want to feel.
Yesterday, I heard something annoying and insensitive that someone had said about my job and my co-workers. It hurt my feelings, and it made me angry.
BUT I don’t like feeling hurt and angry, not for an extended period of time. The way I want to respond to hurtful, insensitive comments is this:
1. Be hurt and angry. But just for a moment.
2. Don’t take anything personally.
3. Vent about it tosomeone totally neutral, if I really need to.
4. Let it go.
I don’t think I did a perfect job of this with yesterday’s situation. I vented about it to Tee, but I don’t think I really needed to. Sometimes, I tell stories like this because I really need to vent. But sometimes, I tell stories like this because I’m just telling Tee about my day and I pick this annoying story instead of the adorable story about the grinning little boy who showed me how to play Minecraft. (I still don’t get it.)
Also – I took it personally. I try to remind myself that what other people think about me is none of my business. It’s not about me – it’s about them. That’s one of the reasons why I don’t want to hold on to these thoughts or feelings about other people’s comments for any longer than I have to; I don’t want to give negative comments any undue worth. But, I am a work in progress.