GROW UP!

I have a real pet peeve that I am going to rant on today - people who think of themselves as responsible adults yet they get their feelings hurt over and over and even worse, they are always telling people they got their feelings hurt.  I just want to go up to them and say "GROW UP!" Someone doesn't come over to speak to them - they get their feelings hurt.  Someone did this for one person and not for them - they get their feelings hurt.  Someone forgot their birthday - they get their feelings hurt.  Someone has some material possession which they cannot have - they get their feelings hurt.  Someones children treat their parents better than their children treat them - they get their feelings hurt.  Someones child is a starter on the team and their child is surely better than that one - they get their feelings hurt. (That one really bothers me because they teach their child to react in this same way.) Someone is asked to participate in something and they weren't - they get their feelings hurt.  The list can go on forever.  They get their feelings hurt over the small and the not so small.  No one or no thing in life is quite good enough for them - ever. I know the Lord must have blessed me with the gift of over looking most things in life that people do that annoy or should upset me and for that I am SO thankful!  My motto is life is too short to get upset over the little things.  But I also feel life is too short to let the rather large things in life upset you too. 

I think this concept came across to me probably after having a child.  I realized then that life is NOT about me.  So many parents never realize that.  They still want life to be all about them and their children take second place.  Excuse me!  If you want to have first place, then don't conceive children.  Once you have a child, you move on to second base.  They are your responsibility and they should come first.  You should WANT them to be first.  They need their clothes washed, their tummies fed, their minds stimulated, their bodies hugged, their souls loved, their bottoms spanked, their attitudes corrected - the list goes on and on.  It is your job, your duty, your hearts desire to do these things for them.  More than likely, there will not be any time left for you for at least 18 years.  Does that sound awful?  Then you are probably getting your feelings hurt on a daily basis.  You should have so much love in you for that child that it is no more about you, but about caring for them.  When you become selfless like this, then you stop getting your feelings hurt.  That is the beginning of this process. 

You begin seeing your life as how can I help those I love, and maybe even those I don't love, rather than how can everyone help me. Selfishness is the root to getting those feelings hurt.  It is not all about you. You should want to help others and be glad they do not have to help you! There are lessons to be learned when you feel you have been wronged and that is how I try to look at life.  Maybe the Lord put that unjust thing in my life to teach me something.  Don't get your feelings hurt.  Learn from it. You are responsible for making YOUR life good or bad.  NO ONE ELSE is.  Not your spouse, not your children, not your co-workers - YOU.  If you find yourself in the position of having hurt feelings more often than you should, look at yourself for the solution and not to others.  Maybe keep a log of when you get your feelings hurt and what the situation was.  You may be surprised at how often this happens.  When reading over the log, you may even be surprised at how childish the things are that hurt your feelings.  If it were someone else getting their feelings hurt over this, would you think they were being petty?  Concentrate on helping to make others happy.  Forgive the person that hurt your feelings. Ask Jesus to change you. Acts 20:35 says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."  I say, if you concentrate more on giving, you will have less hurt feelings.  Life is not always fair.  It is how you deal with the unfair times that shows the world the real you.

Have a Blessed Day!