"Well, there are 7 billion other people in the world. It doesn't all have to be about me! It took me about 66 years to come to this conclusion." Bette Midler
It takes some people even longer to come to that conclusion: "it doesn't all have to be about me". It can be confusing at times to honor ourselves without being so self centered that we think it is all about us. This can even happen when we take things too personally. When people offer criticism about you and/or about how you provide caregiving, it is helpful to remember that it probably would not make any difference who was in your shoes -- the criticism is an issue of the person delivering it. Some people are likely to criticize rather than cooperate, judge rather than have empathy, speak harshly rather than conciliatory. There just are people like that. When that negativity is pointed in our direction, it actually does not have much to do with us. It has everything to do with them. The 12 Step Program advises us to take the kernel of truth in any criticism and let the rest go. Great advise.
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