There are so many things we can do to be better people, but I think one of the most important things we can do is not take things so personally..

There is a great book by Don Miguel Ruiz called The 4 Agreements and one of the main points of the book is ‘Don’t take anything personally’. ‘Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

I think we can all be too quick to assume sometimes that it’s about us when really it’s not. That person isn’t rude because of something you have done, it’s usually because they are dealing with something themselves or are unhappy about something within them.

Most of the time you may not even know this person. It might be someone that serves you at a store, and is not a friendly experience, or someone in the traffic behind you, beeping their horn.

They don’t know you. They are not intentionally trying to upset you, they might just be having a bad day! And we all know what that’s like!

So instead of reacting in these situations and assuming that someone is attacking you, try to put yourself in their shoes.

Think what it’s like for you when you are having a bad day or are in a hurry waiting for traffic.

We all have these days and all we really want is others to be understanding. So when you come across someone that may be a little rude or not as friendly as you may like, just stop and think what they might be going through. They might have small children at home and be stressed and sleep deprived. They might being going through a hard time in their marriage or close relationship. Because the truth is, we all have personal issues that effect us all differently and we don’t mean to take it out on others.

So before you jump to conclusions and think that someone is intentionally being rude to you just remember it’s not personal.

It’s their stuff that they are dealing with and instead of reacting to it, choose to be kind and understanding.

Because that’s what we would want in the same position.