You’ve all heard the famous line “haters gonna hate.” And it’s true. No matter if it’s online, in person, through the gossip mill, wherever, there’s always going to be haters. You’ve got two choices when dealing with haters in your life.
Option one is that you can spew. You can sink to their level and give it right back. That creates a confrontation. It’s also what most people do because of the instinct, the knee-jerk reaction, is to defend ourselves. To prove what they aren’t true. The BEST way to do that, though is actually with option two…
Option two requires a pause to filter and think through your response. Option two, instead of responding in kind, is to respond in kindNESS. Sure, we can always ignore them and there is a time and place for that. But kindness works almost every single time.
Responding in kind is quick. It doesn’t take any additional time to craft your response – and it allows you to release the instant emotional reaction you feel when someone comes at you. But when you choose to respond in kindness, you must pause and let yourself think about your feelings and analyze the situation. What’s the real reason that hater is coming after you now?
In my experience, people who are already unhappy, already hurting, are the ones who lash out and hurt others. I think this is because they’re already living with toxicity in their minds, their bodies, their environment. It’s so prevalent within them that they can’t help but have it seep out, explode out onto others. The negativity actually has nothing to do with you and everything to do with their own mindset.
Think about it. If you know that such pain is already going on in someone’s life, how can you feel anything but compassion and kindness towards them? When someone hates on you, you have the opportunity to respond with kindness and perhaps help that person begin to heal some of the toxicity in their own life. That is a POWERFUL moment.
My challenge to you is to always look for positivity and joy. I promise, if you look for it, you’ll find it every single time.