“Whatever people do, feel, think or say, don’t take it personally.”
How many times has it happened that a person calls you a name and you start believing that it's true. You think to yourself that everyone believes it to be true as well. By feeding this “poison” to you they have simply revealed their own beliefs and agreements, perhaps their own securities. That poison is not for you to make your own. The agreement to not take anything personally gives you immunity from that poison.
Miguel Ruiz says about this agreement, that nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves. All people live in their own dreams, their own worlds. By taking their actions personally, we have made the assumption that they know what is going on in our world. His meaning here is that everyone is responsible for their own actions and that their opinion is strictly a reflection of their own world – so why should it affect your world?
By taking things personally, you’re setting yourself up for suffering. Especially, in today’s world, there are enough people in the world who will do their best to make you suffer – by judging you, giving their opinions about your life or even spreading rumors about you. Their act is a reflection of their own beliefs and insecurities; it has nothing to do with you. By not taking anything personally you are discrediting their negativity and living a happier and healthier life. If you're following the first agreement we wrote about – "Always do your best" -then why should you pay any attention to someone who tries to put you down because of who you are?
The whole world could gossip about you, and if you don’t take it personally you are immune.
The beauty about this particular agreement is that as you stop taking things personally you will not have any need to put trust in others’ opinion of you. You will then care to trust in your own opinion – the one that says not to make assumptions and to always do your best.
This agreement has truly made me open my heart to different people and culture because I am not afraid of internalizing anyone’s opinion, and it has made me a happy person.
Can you promise yourself to Not Take Anything Personally?
