08 insights from COURAGE TO BE DISLIKED:
1. To quote Adler again: “The important thing is not what one is born with but what use one makes of that equipment.
2. The reason so many people don’t really feel happy while they’re building up their success in the eyes of society is that they are living in competition.
3. A lot of people think that the more friends you have the better, but I’m not so sure about that. There’s no value at all in the number of friends or acquaintances you have.
4. If you are leading a life of worry and suffering—which stems from interpersonal relationships—learn the boundary of “From here on, that is not my task.” And discard other people’s tasks. That is the first step toward lightening the load and making life simpler.
5. In the sense that you are concerned solely with the “I,” you are self-centered. You want to be thought well of by others, and that is why you worry about the way they look at you. That is not concern for others. It is nothing but attachment to self.
6. Living in fear of one’s relationships falling apart is an unfree way to live, in which one is living for other people.
7. One cannot change what one is born with. But one can, under one’s own power, go about changing what use one makes of that equipment. So in that case, one simply has to focus on what one can change, rather than on what one cannot. This is what I call self-acceptance.
8. Someone has to start. Other people might not be cooperative, but that is not connected to you. My advice is this: You should start. With no regard to whether others are cooperative or not.
Thanks for reading. 😊
Loading suggestions...