By Hold on. Please keep reading. I want you to stop caring so that you can show more love. Wait, what? You’re not making sense Elizabeth. Stay with me please.
Stop caring about what others think of you. I’m not perfect. I still care too much about what others think of me. Think of my cookies. My writing. I’m human. I don’t expect you to throw it all away tomorrow. But what others think about us and say about us isn’t about us. I’ve often heard people say, “what others think about me isn’t my business”. I struggled with that for a long while. My thought process was that, “of course it’s my business, it’s about me!” But it’s not. It’s not about me.
My time in this world is meant to glorify God. I’m meant to love others. While I’m here I’m certainly allowed to let others love me, but not everyone will. That’s ok. My purpose isn’t to be liked by everyone. Yours isn’t either. So it’s ok to be you. Be 100% all in as yourself. Be your authentic self.
People talk about me behind my back. I know they do. They don’t like that I’m Christian. They don’t like my political views. They don’t like that I lost weight. They don’t like how I raise my kids. They don’t like to see me succeed. So they talk. They talk behind my back. They gossip and say mean things. And old me stressed about this. Old me was crushed by the weight of the opinions of others. And why? For what? How does it affect my life?
It’s my time to be my authentic self. I don’t need to hide parts of me because I’m afraid others won’t like them. I need to let my whole self shine because that’s the way God made me. So start to let your light shine brighter. Dance silly. Praise God. Make mistakes. Wear shorts. Say hello. Step outside your comfort zone. Stop caring what others think or say about you. It doesn’t matter. Show them love anyway. Love your enemy. Your critic. Your frenemy. Love the person who talks about you behind your back. And love the person they’re talking about (you!).
We’re called to love. No exceptions. No stipulations. Just spread love and silliness. Be 100% you and don’t worry about what others think of it. It’s freeing. Go be free.
E. A. McComas 