Play a Role Other than “the Offended”

A core power you hold is to choose, at any given moment, the response you will give to anything that comes at you.

Silence is a response. ‘No’ is a response. An explanation is a response. A clarifying question is a response. A judgment is a response. Mean words are a response. Taking on another’s unkindness is a response. Handing another’s unkindness back to them with grace is a response.

The response is your choice – your power. Designing responses with awareness keeps you safer from offense. Say what you need to say and move on.

When you respond unconsciously – taking offense, for example – you design your own suffering.

Play a different role by actively and interactively designing your responses. Feeling offended is a choice you make. Choosing not to is a power you hold.