Someone told me last week that because of a decision I made, I would have immediate grief. I didn’t. Maybe they did, but it didn’t much involve them.
They said I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I slept fine. I had made an excellent decision and it had good results.
Sometimes we need to hear something about ourselves, sometimes we need to disagree with what we are told about our selves.
Someone told me recently that they didn’t feel good about how they looked. They look fine. I told them so. Then they agreed. We had a good talk about accepting our wonderful but imperfect bodies.
Sometimes we need to not listen to ourselves. We are wrong. We need to listen to someone else.
Life is constant process of discernment.
But how do we know what is right? When do we trust our own thoughts, when others? Experience, gut, context, speaker, time, education, mental health, intent, sincerity, history — so many factors weigh in.
One thing comes to mind to help. Are the remarks shaming, judgmental, condemning? Then they are very often not to be trusted.
Do the words or thoughts point to solutions, to wise processes, to helpful insights, to understanding, to a positive future. Then often they are good.
Discern; learn.