When someone insults us, criticizes us or questions our choices, it’s only natural to want to explain ourselves.
Especially if the slight takes place in a public setting.
Before stepping up to defend our honor, there’s a question we must ask ourselves:
“Is this someone I love, respect or whose opinion I value?”
If the answer is yes, then we may wish to engage.
However, if the answer is no, then we’re likely better off not explaining ourselves.
When we jump to defend ourselves against someone we don’t even know, we give legitimacy to their attack.
We hand them power that they don’t deserve by seeking their approval.
Even worse, we show insecurity or a lack of confidence in our choices or ideals.
In the age of social media and cancel culture, there are plenty of individuals who live to elicit a response by antagonizing us.
When we give them our time and attention, we grant them a status that they don’t really deserve.
The thing to remember is that we don’t need their approval and they’re not going to give it to us in the first place.
So why waste time and energy worrying about them?
These types of critics want us to react to them and when we don’t, they quietly fade back into well-deserved obscurity.
The hardest part about denying them a reaction is learning to control our pride.
Save the explanations for those you actually trust.
You may also enjoy Latter-day Voices, another quality publication in the Fifty-two Seven Alliance family.
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