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Chazz Woodson - Words of Wisdom
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Handling Our Reactions

“People have a right to their opinion and you have the right to ignore it.” – Joel Osteen

Good morning ladies and gentlemen! In today’s world – a politically correct world of social media, accessibility, and unbelievably quick dissemination of information of all types – we often walk on egg shells, and are particularly careful about what we say and do and around whom we say and do it… And rightfully so. Certain things can come back to haunt us, and effect our lives in ways from which we cannot easily recover. And while I, personally, am not an advocate for censorship, I do realize that there’s a time and a place for everything, and that there are times and places where vocalizing certain opinions can be costly. In those moments, we weigh the risks and rewards – occupational risks, safety risks, mental health risks. Sometimes certain things are worth saying, because keeping quiet would hurt us mentally or emotionally. And some things, for our own mental and emotional stability we must speak up.

The thing to remember is that most other people go through these same processes. When they vocalize their thoughts and opinions they have a reason for doing so. Sometimes that reason is all about them, and not about us. We don’t have a choice in what others say. We don’t even have a choice in whether or not we like it. I would venture to say, however, that we have a choice in how we allow it to affect us. Some people may reasonably not agree with that,  But even if we cannot choose how the words and opinions of others affect us, we can control how we react to them.

Remember when you first learned that whole “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me” thing? It wasn’t necessarily true. Words can definitely hurt. But when you learned it that saying, and the first time somebody said something crazy to you, you dropped that line on them and felt SO good about yourself. You just KNEW nobody could touch you! It wasn’t that what was said hurt any more or less. You were simply making a choice in how to react, and you didn’t know it.

Not everyone will handle life in the manner that we do, or in the manner that we would like them to. That’s their right. We have the right to handle our own lives; our own thoughts, words, actions, and our own reactions. Don’t allow the opinions of others to affect your day. Very few people should have that much power in your life.

Make it a GREAT day!

Stay blessed