It is easier said than done to completely relinquish yourself from caring about what others say about you. Not impossible to do, but difficult. Everyone is searching for acceptance in some way, shape, or form and oftentimes we look towards others to find it. I think we can all admit that it sure doesn’t feel awful when you feel genuine acceptance and know you are in a position where you are liked, supported, and respected by those around you.
However, that is not always how the cookie crumbles. Perhaps more so than we encounter those types of people, we encounter those who oppose us, those who aren’t so eager to extend kindness, those whose words or actions make us challenge our own personal perception of ourselves - peers, family, so-called friends, the media. Suddenly, you start criticizing yourself with the same angle of thought as them, and it becomes increasingly difficult to not let their voice trounce your own. You find yourself focused on satisfying the expectations of others more so than fulfilling personal expectations. Maybe, you feel like you’ve lost sight of what it is you truly want and who you really are as a person. If you find yourself having one of those moments, here are ten quotes to help you put it all into perspective.
- “You will always be too much of something for someone: too big, too loud, too soft, too edgy. If you round out your edges, you lose your edge. Apologize for mistakes. Apologize for unintentionally hurting someone — profusely. But don’t apologize for being who you are.” ― Danielle Laporte
- “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” ― Steve Jobs
- “You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there’s still going to be someone who hates peaches.” ― Dita Von Teese
- “When you know who you are, you don’t look to the world to tell you. Similarly, you don’t fear other people since they cannot take anything from you.” ― The Lazy Yogi
- “An entire sea of water can’t sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship. Similarly, the negativity of the world can’t put you down unless you allow it to get inside you.” ― Goi Nasu
- “I advise you to stop sharing your dreams with people who try to hold you back, even if they’re your parents. Because, if you’re the kind of person who senses there’s something out there for you beyond whatever it is you’re expected to do - if you want to be EXTRA-ordinary - you will not get there by hanging around a bunch of people who tell you you’re not extraordinary. Instead, you will probably become as ordinary as they expect you to be.” ― Kelly Cutrone
- “People inspire you or they drain you. Pick them wisely.” ― Hans F. Hansen
- “Until the whole world is free to agree with you or disagree with you, until you have given the freedom to everyone to like you or not like you, to love you or hate you, to see things as you see them or to see things differently—until you have given the whole world its freedom—you’ll never have your freedom.” ― Adyashanti
- “Note to self: Don’t seek to be relevant, or liked, seek to be undeniable. Seek to be compassionate. Seek integrity. Seek humility. Seek Light.” ― Unknown
- "Try to make people happy, and you lay the groundwork for misery." ― Lao Tzu
Deciding not to let the opinion of others affect you is a choice. It is a conscious decision that you must make every single time the situation arises. With these quotes in the back of your mind, maybe that decision will gradually become easier to make.
