Don’t get mad and don’t get even. Just try to ignore

I think it’s normal that at some point in our life, we are bound to meet people who we can’t get along with. This could be due to several reasons like difference in opinions, clash in personality or had a bad history with the other person. Each of us also deals with these people differently. Some would fight back and some would just choose to ignore and continue with their lives. Of course our patience does have a limit and if the situation gets worse, we would want to stand our ground.

I am a patient person and would always choose to ignore. I don’t like confrontation and most definitely would want things to remain peaceful. The most I would do is bitch about it but I would not try to get even. However, I have to admit when things get out of hand, it does stress me out a bit.

I got caught into this situation some time ago and knowing me, when I worry, I tend to get overboard with it. A colleague advised me not to worry too much about people who have nothing better to do than make our life difficult. It’s a waste of time and energy. She recommended this book from Dale Carnegie: How to stop worrying and start living. I read a few chapters of it and now understand what she meant.

I’d like to share some interesting advice that Mr Carnegie mentioned in the book:

“When we hate our enemies, we are giving them power over us: power over our sleep, our appetites, our blood pressure, our health, and our happiness. Our enemies would dance with joy if only they knew how they were worrying us, lacerating us, and getting even with us! Our hate is not hurting them at all but our hate is turning our own days and nights into a hellish turmoil”.


To cultivate a mental attitude that will bring you peace and happiness, remember this rule:

“Let’s never try to get even with our enemies because if we do we will hurt ourselves far more than we hurt them. Let’s do as General Eisenhower does: let’s never waste a minute thinking about people we don’t like”

Ok, maybe ‘enemy’ is too harsh of a word. I’d rather put it as ‘people I can’t get along with’.

So friends, if there are these type of people in your life, just let them be. Think of it this way: the more we choose to ignore them, the more pissed off they’ll be. Teeheeheehee….

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent” -Eleanor Roosevelt-