“The best revenge is not to be like your enemy.” ~ Marcus Aurelius
When someone treats you with disrespect, lives their life with no regard to other people, or acts in any way contrary to how you would or common courtesy would dictate, the best response is calmness.
When the cashier is curt, do not jump to conclusions and think “This person is an asshole!” We all have bad days. A lot of factors could elicit their response to you.
When your love interest attempts to make you jealous or tries to elicit feelings of anger, do not act vindictively. Do not plot your revenge.
Even when an individual is known for being a dick, responding with anger will only result in temporary pleasure. Once the initial rush wears off, you’ll be left with regret. You’ll wish you hadn’t said the things you did and you’ll wish you had just moved on.
There’s nothing better than watching someone try to rile you up but you stay calm and steady. They’ll throw everything they can at you, but nothing will hit. Then they’re left flustered and embarrassed because they realized how stupid they looked fighting with someone who wasn’t fighting back.
They may not learn from their mistakes and they’ll probably continue acting unproductively, but you came out stronger and better than you were before. You didn’t stoop to their level and you showed them their anger doesn’t always get the response they desire. You didn’t reinforce their behavior.
Stay calm. Stay steady. Let the outside world throw whatever it will at you, but don’t let any of it affect you. Show the world and everyone in it how to be a strong, focused, and stoic human being.
February 23, 2022
