“For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right but found to be otherwise.”
(Benjamin Franklin)
Often people refer to insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results....of course "being insane" is something totally different, but there is some truth to be found in that old wives tale...for me, something has come into clear focus around this principle and is guiding me to make some different decisions.
Different decisions about old wounds.
New conclusions mean new manners of being.
Sometimes things happen and you keep trying to do the "right thing", the virtuous thing...to be the bigger person....giving the benefit of the doubt...but some things - and some people - are really just superficial in their essence - can't be anything more or anything less...and you can't change that. That's not to say people don't have the potential to not be superficial, just that it has to be their decision...you can't change it for them.
So, the lesson, regardless of what it is or where it is coming from - if it's toxic for you - don't ingest it...it's just that simple.
You can try to understand the toxicity, to have compassion for it, learn from it, etc...but that doesn't mean you need to interact or participate with it, and get all covered in it's yucky business...
Spit it out, walk away, don't look back...cultivate interactions as you would like to have them. Don't dwell on how others treat you - focus on how you are treating others. And above all how you are treating yourself.
There's plenty of toxicity in the world that you can't remove yourself from...so do yourself a favor and irradicate that which you can.
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