Stop Worrying About Other People’s Opinions of You

Right now, I’m sitting outside Gate E31, waiting to board a flight to Cancun. By myself.While I worked hard to EARN this trip from my beauty company partnership - and believe me, I’m soooooo excited to be going on this well-deserved trip - I have been experiencing A LOT of anxiety leading up to the trip.I’m not going to go into all the details, because honestly, at this point, they don’t matter… but basically, I have this overwhelming feeling that I am going to be forced into a conflict or conversation that I’m terrified of having.Y’all, I’m an Enneagram 9 and my goal in life is to maintain inner (and outer) peace. So, conflicts - or the potential of a conflict - bring me a TON of anxiety. Yup, I’m that girl who will walk away during an argument, block someone on Facebook, do something TOTALLY passive aggressive instead of actually having a tough conversation.Please tell me I’m not alone…And because that’s a possibility (even though it most likely won’t happen), I’m experiencing A LOT of anxiety about it.So, I turned to my people to talk through what I was feeling. One of those being my incredibly wise husband. Wise beyond his years, I tell ya.I told him I was feeling anxious and then proceeded to tell him how I had the exact same anxiety a few months ago before my trip to Columbus. In fact, my anxiety was so high, I slept for 2 hours the first night I was there. I just could not get my brain to turn off.And then my husband said something so profound…You cannot control other people’s thoughts and actions. Are they losing sleep worrying about you? No. So stop worrying about it so much.Gut. Punch.But, it was exactly what I needed to hear.Will there be a run in with someone I don’t want to see? Possibly.Is it going to define my trip? No, but I have to make an active choice to not let other people’s opinions of me define who I am or what I do.I hope this brings you some hope. I know you might be worried about taking a leap, to making a change, to doing or saying something that someone else might not agree with.Or maybe you’ve gained weight and you’re worried what people are saying behind your back.Girlfriend, don’t let other people define who YOU are.YOU are beautifully + wonderfully made. Be who God created you to be and stop letting others control that!- Kristen