Has anyone ever told you: “don’t worry about it–it isn’t personal”? Well, I’m here to suggest to you that it IS personal–in fact, it may be that everything is personal. As we begin to shift the focus of our attention back to our own pure awareness, everything becomes personal–deeply personal. Everything we think, feel, say and do becomes a reflection of our own pure awareness. In this way, we are giving ourselves the constant gift of healing old hurts, old stories and old pains that keep us small and contracted. We are allowing everything to become personal to the extent that we use it to learn more about ourselves.
You tell me I’m wrong, and that hurts–or does it? If I choose to “make it personal,” then I am choosing to look at why your words hurt me at all. By making it personal, I make it meaningful to my own growth and development. That hurt I feel is my pointer to something that needs healing in me, and I choose to go back, find the hurt and heal it for myself. I choose not to abandon myself to the old Inner Critic that would have me believe I am bad, unlovable, wrong–whatever!
In this way, everything is personal and anyone who tries to tell you differently is also suggesting that you abandon your feelings to the situation at hand–you leave yourself unredeemed and uneducated. Take it personally! Please! Take every emotion and thought you have and examine it for the personal significance it has for you. You will fill your days with finding the meaning of life, instead of abandoning yourself to the harshness of taking nothing personally.
Dr. Laurel Ross