For as many times as I sang the rhyme Sticks and Stones as a child, words do sometimes still hurt. Words are powerful entities in and of themselves, however, we have power within our own minds to combat the negative words that we hear with positive words. While every negative comment and harsh criticism we receive sticks with us more easily than the one hundred positive affirmations we get every day, it is up to us which words we want to dwell on, and this isn’t always an easy task. Every opportunity that we are given to practice choosing which words will have more power in our minds is a battle in and of itself. When you have a chance to practice this type of word combat, be strong and press onward for you are training your mind.
Yesterday I received my first negative comment on my newly released Couch to Half Marathon App. It appears that the reviewer downloaded the app without reading the details of the app’s features, and in their disgruntlement, lashed out at me personally, calling me “annoying.” In the first week of its launch I have over 200 happy downloaders, and one disgruntled one, yet it still takes effort to focus positively on the 199 that are saying kind things.
We must always remember that life is a journey and we are going to be faced with obstacles along the way, many of which aren’t visible and instead are daily battles that we must make within our thought-lives. There are always going to be people who don’t like you, people who find you annoying, and people who criticize you. Whatever you do, don’t let these people sway you from being anything but 100% yourself. Win over their words by simply staying true to your path and remembering to focus on the positive instead of the negative. Words don’t have to hurt you forever if you don’t want them to.