In contemporary society, some people seem to take offense over the mistakes and social errors of other people quite easily. Do you often feel offended over clumsy, socially insensitive remarks other people make, both online and face-to-face?
Getting offended by something someone has said to you will not change who they are. For instance, a size-ist individual will not develop a better attitude towards heavier people just because you dislike comments they made about you or someone else.
People change due to educational life experiences. They also change because they wish to do so.
If you want your grievance with someone else’s words or actions to cause a change of heart, you might be waiting a while. You should never expect to manipulate the words or actions of someone else, no matter how upsetting you find them. You have control of your own behaviour, not someone else’s.
Here are a few other examples:
Perhaps no one has offended you on purpose. Can you prove someone else has maliciously wanted to anger you with their words or deeds? When what someone says hurts you, the odds are that they meant nothing vindictive and were being thoughtless with their words or actions. People are often accidentally insensitive. That is not the same thing as being malicious. Rather than just rolling your eyes and letting the comment make you mad, you can engage in a civil conversation explaining why you felt the comment was offensive.
More awareness. You can do many things to make yourself less prone to taking offense. For instance, you can work on understanding why you get offended and why others behave offensively. You can also try new things, travel to unknown destinations, meditate, and remain aware of the differences between constructive criticism and unkindness.
Contentment. By working on yourself so that you stop responding to the disrespectful things others do and say, you can avoid reacting when no reaction is necessary and reclaim your peace of mind. Having peace of mind makes life far more fulfilling.
