I was very humbled by all the birthday messages received on my 70th and also all the physical cards I received. Obviously on birthday day it was difficult to take it all in. Then I had a look at who had sent the messages and they were from so many people that I admire and respect. Some very pleasant surprises as well. Yes it's very easy to hit a button on Facebook or just add a happy birthday but I never take it for granted. People who don't like me wouldn't send a message and so I must assume that everyone who hit that button does have at least a modicum of respect for me.
By the end of it all I felt very appreciated. The reflection was on people I have come across in my life who have upset, annoyed or plain p----d me off. Why is it that for every one of these it takes a veritable army to get you back on track and to make you valued. Just one of these people can make your life very unpleasant. I must say that in my 70 years the number of people who come into this category can probably be counted on the fingers of one hand.
But there is no doubt that one person can make you feel useless and can destroy your confidence. But what I have learnt in life is that those people probably try to make everyone feel useless because they have some kind of inferiority complex.
I have always had to remember that the people I respect and love are the people who respect and love me in turn. The others do not want to be part of my life, neither do I want them to be. I have a phrase I use when I'm faced with an unpleasant person. I just speak to myself and say:
"I do not give you permission to make me miserable or spoil my life. I do not value you as a person or respect what you are."
I have also learnt that I don't have to tolerate those kinds of people although it's relatively easy to ignore them when you are retired but much more difficult when you are in a work situation.
And I think that's more than enough of the serious stuff for now. A rather lighter blog tomorrow.